ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. bore — to tire
  3. club — for dancing
  4. wax — to grow
  5. shower — to wash
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. clip — a video
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. cell — a phone
  13. bore — to drill
  14. club — a group
  15. land — ground
  16. row — to paddle
  17. shower — rain
  18. clip — to cut
  19. club — for golf
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. land — a country
  22. cell — in biology
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. land — to come down

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com