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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: degree · field · present · content · bay · land · face · patient

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. land — a country
  3. content — the amount
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. field — farmland
  6. face — to confront
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. face — to point toward
  9. degree — temperature
  10. content — happy
  11. land — to come down
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. present — there
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. degree — an amount
  17. field — for sport
  18. degree — from a university
  19. face — part of the head
  20. present — the time now
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. field — a subject
  24. present — a gift

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