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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: fall · wax · file · bank · game · swing · bear · cold

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. file — a tool
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. file — a document
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bank — of a river
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. wax — to grow
  10. bank — for money
  11. cold — not warm
  12. fall — to drop
  13. swing — in golf
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. bear — the animal
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bank — for money
  18. game — wild animals
  19. swing — to play on
  20. game — a match
  21. bear — the animal
  22. swing — music
  23. file — a line of people
  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