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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 · ball · wind · scale · band · file · branch · arm

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. swing — to play on
  5. band — a ring
  6. scale — size or range
  7. wind — moving air
  8. swing — in golf
  9. band — a music group
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a line of people
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. ball — a dance
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. scale — in music
  18. swing — music
  19. file — a document
  20. ball — a great time
  21. wind — moving air
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. branch — a division
  24. branch — of a tree

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