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: wax · bat · ground · spring · last · pop · squash · capital

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. spring — a coil
  3. ground — a position
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — the animal
  6. spring — of water
  7. squash — the sport
  8. capital — money
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. capital — a city
  11. squash — to crush
  12. last — final
  13. last — to go on
  14. ground — crushed
  15. pop — music
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. pop — to visit
  18. pop — soda
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. wax — to grow
  23. ground — the earth
  24. spring — the season

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