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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 · degree · branch · bay · cold · pitch · bat · march

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. branch — a division
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. cold — not warm
  6. degree — temperature
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pitch — completely
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. march — the month
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. march — the month
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. degree — an amount
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. degree — from a university
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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