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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: pitch · hide · firm · bat · cold · field · bark · march

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. firm — a company
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bat — the animal
  8. field — farmland
  9. firm — steady
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. march — the month
  12. field — for sport
  13. march — the month
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. firm — decided
  20. march — music
  21. pitch — completely
  22. cold — not warm
  23. field — a subject
  24. bark — to shout

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