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 120 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: plane · pop · bear · field · spring · kid · hand · wax

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. spring — of water
  3. pop — to visit
  4. hand — help
  5. spring — the season
  6. pop — soda
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. spring — a coil
  9. field — a subject
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. kid — child
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pop — music
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. bear — the animal
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. plane — a tool
  23. hand — in cards
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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