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: clip · bark · land · mate · wax · plane · capital · track

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. plane — a tool
  4. land — ground
  5. clip — for paper
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. clip — to cut
  8. capital — a city
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. mate — a partner
  11. wax — to grow
  12. mate — a friend
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. track — a song
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. track — a path
  17. capital — money
  18. bark — to shout
  19. mate — to breed
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. land — a country
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. track — to keep track
  24. land — to come down

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