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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. spring — the season
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. chest — of your body
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. spring — of water
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. lean — thin
  14. lean — to bend
  15. snap — to click
  16. chest — of your body
  17. spring — a coil
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. ball — a dance
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. chest — a box
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. ball — a great time

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