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 116 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. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. swing — in golf
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. rest — a break
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. hand — help
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. cold — not warm
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. bat — the animal
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. swing — to play on
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. hand — in cards
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. swing — music
  24. cold — an illness

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