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 116 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: squash · band · clip · cold · tear · content · leaves · coach

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. clip — for paper
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. squash — to crush
  7. tear — from crying
  8. content — happy
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. cold — not warm
  11. clip — a video
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. tear — from crying
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — the amount
  17. squash — the sport
  18. clip — to cut
  19. band — a ring
  20. cold — an illness
  21. band — a music group
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. tear — to rip

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