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: drill · tear · kid · face · wax · wound · row · capital

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wound — an injury
  3. kid — child
  4. tear — to rip
  5. face — to confront
  6. capital — money
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. face — to point toward
  12. wound — an injury
  13. capital — a city
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. tear — from crying
  18. row — a line
  19. drill — a practice
  20. face — part of the head
  21. drill — army training
  22. drill — the tool
  23. row — to paddle
  24. wax — in the ear

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