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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. wax — to grow
  4. cap — a hat
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. craft — a skill
  10. cap — of ice
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. dip — to sink
  14. ground — the earth
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — army training
  17. ground — crushed
  18. clip — a video
  19. drill — the tool
  20. ground — a position
  21. craft — boats
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. cap — a lid
  24. craft — a handicraft

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