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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 · bound · shower · face · court · field · firm · patient

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. shower — rain
  3. bound — certain
  4. firm — a company
  5. firm — decided
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bound — obliged
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. firm — steady
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — to point toward
  12. court — of a king
  13. face — part of the head
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. field — a subject
  16. court — of law
  17. field — farmland
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. content — the amount
  20. field — for sport
  21. shower — to wash
  22. content — happy
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. content — videos and posts

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