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: cold · content · saw · kid · coach · foot · spring · racket

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. content — happy
  3. saw — the tool
  4. kid — to tease
  5. cold — an illness
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. saw — the tool
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. spring — the season
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. spring — of water
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. kid — child
  15. foot — a measure
  16. cold — not warm
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. content — the amount
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. spring — a coil
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. foot — part of the body

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