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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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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 · fall · swing · bay · fan · jam · file · lean

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. lean — to bend
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. swing — to play on
  10. fall — the season
  11. file — a document
  12. swing — in golf
  13. fall — to drop
  14. file — a tool
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. swing — music
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. lean — thin
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. cold — not warm

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