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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 120 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: fan · swing · degree · current · bulb · kick · mine · press

  1. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. press — a publisher
  5. degree — temperature
  6. swing — to play on
  7. bulb — for light
  8. swing — music
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. degree — from a university
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. press — to push
  13. current — of water
  14. degree — an amount
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. current — electric
  17. bulb — for light
  18. press — newspapers
  19. mine — for digging
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. swing — in golf
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. kick — in football

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