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: stem · chest · jam · march · court · straw · file · wax

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of a king
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. march — the month
  5. march — music
  6. wax — to grow
  7. stem — to come from
  8. file — a document
  9. court — of law
  10. chest — of your body
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. chest — of your body
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. file — a line of people
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. chest — a box
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. march — the month
  23. file — a tool
  24. jam — a tight spot

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