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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: ground · lean · stock · bat · sharp · present · land · chest

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. present — the time now
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. chest — of your body
  7. present — a gift
  8. ground — crushed
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. lean — to bend
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. stock — goods
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. lean — thin
  18. land — a country
  19. sharp — clever
  20. stock — shares
  21. present — there
  22. bat — the animal
  23. ground — a position
  24. bat — for baseball

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