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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 116 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: current · rash · file · saw · face · scale · cold · plane

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  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. file — a line of people
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cold — not warm
  4. current — happening now
  5. plane — a tool
  6. face — to point toward
  7. rash — hasty
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. face — part of the head
  12. rash — a series
  13. scale — size or range
  14. cold — an illness
  15. scale — in music
  16. face — to confront
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. file — a tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. current — electric
  21. file — a document
  22. current — of water
  23. plane — an aircraft
  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