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: cold · fan · wax · mouse · chip · field · net · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. field — a subject
  4. cold — not warm
  5. field — farmland
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wax — to grow
  9. net — for catching
  10. clip — to cut
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chip — for betting
  16. field — for sport
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. chip — to eat
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. net — after costs
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. net — in sport

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