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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: hide · march · fork · bat · bark · kid · field · bulb

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. field — a subject
  8. bulb — for light
  9. march — the month
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. fork — in a road
  13. field — farmland
  14. bark — to shout
  15. kid — to tease
  16. march — music
  17. kid — child
  18. bat — the animal
  19. field — for sport
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. march — the month
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bulb — for light

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