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: court · degree · march · land · wax · wake · file · date

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. file — a document
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. march — the month
  5. court — for sport
  6. degree — temperature
  7. land — to come down
  8. degree — from a university
  9. march — music
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. court — of law
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. court — of a king
  15. file — a tool
  16. date — the fruit
  17. degree — an amount
  18. land — ground
  19. march — the month
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. land — a country
  23. wax — to grow
  24. date — on the calendar

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