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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. net — after costs
  3. lean — to bend
  4. plane — a tool
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. bat — the animal
  10. wax — to grow
  11. bass — the fish
  12. net — in sport
  13. bass — low music
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — to wash
  16. pit — in a race
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. lean — thin
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. pit — a hole
  21. net — for catching
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. bat — for baseball

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