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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: cold · bat · object · current · fine · march · jam · lean

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. cold — not warm
  4. object — to protest
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — all right
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bat — the animal
  9. march — the month
  10. lean — thin
  11. object — an aim
  12. object — a thing
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. current — happening now
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. lean — to bend
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. current — of water
  23. current — electric
  24. cold — the Cold War

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