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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. wax — to grow
  3. cell — a phone
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. mine — for digging
  6. chest — of your body
  7. root — the cause
  8. chest — of your body
  9. snap — to click
  10. land — ground
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. chest — a box
  14. root — of a plant
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. cell — in biology
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. land — to come down
  24. root — of a word

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