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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: trunk · branch · season · march · bat · dip · kid · board

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. march — the month
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. kid — child
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. march — the month
  7. season — in sport
  8. kid — to tease
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. dip — to sink
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. board — a committee
  13. march — music
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. branch — a division
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. season — of the year
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. board — to get on
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. trunk — 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