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 120 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: cold · straw · swing · squash · march · branch · wake · wax

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. cold — an illness
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. squash — the sport
  6. march — music
  7. wax — to grow
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. squash — to crush
  10. cold — not warm
  11. swing — in golf
  12. march — the month
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. swing — to play on
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. branch — a division
  17. march — the month
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. wake — a trail

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