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: kid · tear · chest · cold · coach · board

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. chest — of your body
  4. tear — from crying
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. board — to get on
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chest — a box
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. board — a committee
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cold — an illness
  18. kid — child

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