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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: scale · band · mine · bat · current · fan · swing · fine

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. mine — for digging
  6. current — of water
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. band — a music group
  10. swing — in golf
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — the animal
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. current — happening now
  16. fine — all right
  17. scale — in music
  18. scale — size or range
  19. band — a ring
  20. swing — music
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. fine — high quality

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