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: chair · ground · kick · bark · bat · mouse · cold · wax

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. kick — in football
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. ground — a position
  17. wax — to grow
  18. ground — the earth
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. cold — not warm
  22. chair — a leader
  23. bark — to shout
  24. cold — an illness

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