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: trunk · file · hand · cold · racket · wax · last · arm

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. last — final
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. wax — to grow
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. hand — in cards
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. last — to go on
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. last — finally
  19. file — a document
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. file — a tool
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. trunk — of a car

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