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 116 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: wax · bear · cell · rule · tear · mine · snap · degree

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. degree — an amount
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. rule — government
  8. tear — to rip
  9. mine — for digging
  10. tear — from crying
  11. degree — temperature
  12. snap — to click
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. cell — in biology
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. cell — a phone
  18. rule — a law
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bear — the animal
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. bear — the animal
  23. degree — from a university
  24. wax — to grow

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