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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 · fine · pitch · branch · game · race · bat · march

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. fine — all right
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. march — the month
  9. pitch — completely
  10. race — the arms race
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. march — the month
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. race — a contest
  15. fine — high quality
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. march — music
  19. game — a match
  20. branch — a division
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. bat — the animal
  23. game — wild animals
  24. race — humankind

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