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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. stock — goods
  6. file — a document
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. stock — shares
  9. fall — to drop
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. file — a line of people
  12. hand — in cards
  13. file — a tool
  14. hand — help
  15. capital — money
  16. fall — to drop
  17. date — the fruit
  18. fall — the season
  19. foot — a measure
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. capital — a city
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. foot — the bottom

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