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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: chair · fall · lash · jam · march · file · roll · saw

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. file — a document
  7. fall — to drop
  8. march — the month
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. chair — a leader
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. file — a tool
  14. saw — the tool
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. march — music
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. fall — to drop
  20. saw — the tool
  21. march — the month
  22. file — a line of people
  23. roll — a list
  24. fall — the season

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