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: field · wax · prune · court · hand · sharp · race · cap

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. prune — to trim
  3. court — of a king
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. hand — in cards
  9. race — humankind
  10. cap — of ice
  11. prune — to trim
  12. field — a subject
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. wax — to grow
  15. field — for sport
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. cap — a hat
  18. sharp — clever
  19. race — the arms race
  20. cap — a lid
  21. court — for sport
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. race — a contest
  24. court — of law

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