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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: ball · file · jam · season · pitcher · spring · saw · cold

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. file — a line of people
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. ball — a great time
  6. ball — a dance
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — a coil
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. season — in sport
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cold — an illness
  18. saw — the tool
  19. season — of the year
  20. file — a tool
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. saw — the tool
  23. file — a document
  24. spring — 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