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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. shower — to wash
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. stem — to come from
  7. wound — an injury
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. cell — a phone
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mine — for digging
  14. wax — to grow
  15. cell — in biology
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. wound — an injury
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. stem — a stem cell

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