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: coach · arm · bat · bark · wax · band · firm · degree

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. band — a ring
  7. firm — steady
  8. band — a music group
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. firm — decided
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. degree — temperature
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. degree — from a university
  15. firm — a company
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. degree — an amount
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. wax — to grow
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. bat — for baseball

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