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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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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: kick · lean · racket · cell · field · patient · content · chip

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. field — for sport
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. cell — a phone
  6. lean — thin
  7. content — the amount
  8. kick — in football
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. chip — to eat
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. lean — to bend
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. field — a subject
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. content — happy
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. chip — for betting
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. field — farmland
  24. cell — in biology

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