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: hand · wax · stock · bound · net · march · kid · chair

  1. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. bound — obliged
  5. stock — goods
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. hand — help
  8. march — music
  9. kid — child
  10. net — for catching
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. bound — certain
  13. bound — tied together
  14. chair — a leader
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. kid — to tease
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. march — the month
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. march — the month
  24. stock — shares

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