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 124 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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. wax — to grow
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. march — the month
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. spell — a short time
  7. clip — a video
  8. chest — of your body
  9. march — the month
  10. march — music
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. stock — goods
  13. chest — a box
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. stock — shares
  16. mine — for digging
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. spell — letters
  21. sharp — clever
  22. clip — to cut
  23. spell — magic
  24. clip — for paper

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