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: march · cell · wax · prune · row · club · degree · capital

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. prune — to trim
  3. degree — temperature
  4. degree — from a university
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. degree — an amount
  8. march — music
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. capital — money
  12. row — to paddle
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. prune — to trim
  15. march — the month
  16. club — a group
  17. capital — a city
  18. march — the month
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. cell — a phone
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. club — for golf
  23. cell — in biology
  24. club — for dancing

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