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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. track — a song
  4. wax — to grow
  5. track — to keep track
  6. spell — a short time
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. march — the month
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — for digging
  11. shower — to wash
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. shower — rain
  14. spell — magic
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. march — music
  18. dip — to sink
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. spell — letters
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. track — a path

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