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: rock · cold · chair · chest · leaves · coach · cell · clip

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. cell — a phone
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cold — an illness
  11. clip — a video
  12. rock — a stone
  13. rock — music
  14. chest — a box
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — a leader
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. cell — in biology
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — to cut
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. chest — of your 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