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: band · coach · file · toast · kid · cold · dip · chip

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. file — a tool
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. kid — child
  9. band — a ring
  10. kid — to tease
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a document
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. chip — to eat
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. toast — bread
  20. chip — for betting
  21. cold — an illness
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. dip — to sink
  24. band — a music group

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