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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: pit · bat · branch · degree · coach · perch · trunk · rule

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. degree — an amount
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. rule — a law
  5. branch — a division
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. pit — a hole
  8. rule — government
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. perch — the fish
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. pit — in a race
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. degree — from a university
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. bat — the animal
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. degree — temperature

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