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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: sharp · march · press · ball · row · cell · face · scale

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. face — to point toward
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. march — music
  7. face — to confront
  8. scale — size or range
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. sharp — clever
  11. scale — in music
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — a phone
  14. ball — a great time
  15. press — newspapers
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. press — a publisher
  19. cell — in biology
  20. face — part of the head
  21. row — to paddle
  22. press — to push
  23. ball — a dance
  24. row — a line

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