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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.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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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: leaves · straw · cold · cell · jam · file · swing · pop

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cold — not warm
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. swing — to play on
  6. cell — in biology
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. pop — to visit
  10. file — a line of people
  11. pop — soda
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cold — an illness
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. pop — music
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. swing — music
  22. file — a tool
  23. swing — in golf
  24. file — a document

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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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