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: bark · cold · wax · band · cap · branch · content · wake

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. content — happy
  4. cold — not warm
  5. band — a ring
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. branch — a division
  8. cold — an illness
  9. content — the amount
  10. bark — to shout
  11. wax — to grow
  12. wake — a trail
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. band — a music group
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. cap — a hat
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. cap — of ice

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