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: spring · wake · fan · content · chest · pop · coach · bat

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. pop — soda
  5. bat — the animal
  6. pop — to visit
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. spring — the season
  9. wake — a trail
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. content — happy
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. spring — of water
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. chest — a box
  21. pop — music
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. content — the amount

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