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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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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: bat · trunk · degree · cap · branch · last · land · cue

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. last — final
  3. degree — an amount
  4. last — finally
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. cue — for pool
  7. bat — the animal
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cue — a signal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. land — to come down
  12. cue — a hint
  13. last — to go on
  14. cap — a hat
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. degree — from a university
  18. branch — a division
  19. land — a country
  20. land — ground
  21. cap — of ice
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cap — a lid
  24. branch — of a bank

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