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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.

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
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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: capital · fan · leaves · wound · cold · jam · file · arm

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. wound — an injury
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. file — a tool
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. file — a document
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. cold — not warm
  14. capital — money
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. capital — a city
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. cold — an illness
  20. file — a line of people
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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