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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: swing · current · scale · cold · file · march · sharp · face

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. face — to point toward
  3. sharp — clever
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. march — music
  6. swing — in golf
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. swing — music
  9. scale — in music
  10. swing — to play on
  11. file — a document
  12. current — of water
  13. scale — size or range
  14. march — the month
  15. face — part of the head
  16. cold — an illness
  17. file — a line of people
  18. current — happening now
  19. cold — not warm
  20. march — the month
  21. face — to confront
  22. file — a tool
  23. current — electric
  24. sharp — exactly

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