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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · wax · lie · branch · game · row · degree · clip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. degree — from a university
  5. clip — for paper
  6. wind — moving air
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. game — wild animals
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wind — moving air
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. row — a line
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. row — to paddle
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. degree — an amount
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. clip — a video
  20. game — a match
  21. branch — a division
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. lie — to recline
  24. degree — temperature

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