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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 120 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: kid · deal · scale · field · kick · bark · bulb · degree

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. bulb — for light
  3. field — for sport
  4. scale — size or range
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. bulb — for light
  8. degree — temperature
  9. deal — to handle
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bark — to shout
  12. degree — from a university
  13. kick — in football
  14. kid — child
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. kid — to tease
  19. field — farmland
  20. scale — in music
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. field — a subject

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