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: net · race · craft · cell · wake · field · date · wax

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. craft — boats
  3. cell — a phone
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. craft — a skill
  6. net — for catching
  7. date — the fruit
  8. net — in sport
  9. race — the arms race
  10. field — farmland
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. race — humankind
  15. net — after costs
  16. cell — in biology
  17. field — a subject
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. wake — a trail
  21. race — a contest
  22. wax — to grow
  23. field — for sport
  24. wax — for sculpting

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