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 120 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: shower · coach · content · object · cold · tube · staff · prune

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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. staff — employees
  4. cold — an illness
  5. prune — to trim
  6. object — an aim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. tube — a container
  9. staff — employees
  10. staff — a stick
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. object — a thing
  14. tube — the underground
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. content — the amount
  17. object — to protest
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. shower — rain
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. content — happy
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. shower — to wash

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