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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: bark · fan · leaves · ground · game · toast · race · field

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. field — farmland
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — a position
  6. field — for sport
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — a contest
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bark — to shout
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. ground — the earth
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. field — a subject
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. race — humankind
  24. leaves — of a tree

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