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: degree · wax · cold · vault · capital · wind · press · swing

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. capital — a city
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wind — moving air
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. swing — to play on
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. capital — money
  13. press — to push
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. degree — an amount
  17. vault — a safe
  18. swing — in golf
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. swing — music
  21. cold — an illness
  22. press — a publisher
  23. press — newspapers
  24. wax — to grow

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