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: kid · fall · wound · rule · march · ground · chair · wax

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. kid — child
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. kid — to tease
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rule — a law
  8. chair — a leader
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. ground — a position
  15. ground — the earth
  16. fall — to drop
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. fall — to drop
  19. ground — crushed
  20. fall — the season
  21. rule — government
  22. wax — to grow
  23. march — the month
  24. rule — to rule out

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