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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. bass — low music
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. spring — the season
  6. wax — to grow
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. bat — the animal
  9. court — of law
  10. pitch — completely
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. content — happy
  13. content — the amount
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. court — of a king
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. cap — a lid
  18. bass — the fish
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cap — a hat
  22. court — for sport
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bass — the instrument

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