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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: leaves · chip · content · degree · field · row · court · patient

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. content — happy
  3. content — the amount
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. field — a subject
  7. row — a line
  8. court — of law
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — temperature
  12. chip — to eat
  13. degree — from a university
  14. field — farmland
  15. court — of a king
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. row — to paddle
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. field — for sport
  21. chip — for betting
  22. court — for sport
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. chip — in a computer

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