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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: content · patient · charge · kid · field · temple · bowl · fan

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. field — farmland
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. content — the amount
  7. content — happy
  8. field — for sport
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. charge — in control
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. kid — to tease
  17. charge — electricity
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. field — a subject
  22. charge — a price
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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