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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. drill — army training
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. hand — help
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. cold — not warm
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bore — to drill
  13. hand — in cards
  14. club — for golf
  15. bore — to tire
  16. club — a group
  17. drill — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. drill — a practice
  20. bulb — for light
  21. wax — to grow
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. club — for dancing

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