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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: bat · sharp · land · straw · pop · content · nail · pit

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. content — the amount
  5. land — a country
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pit — in a race
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. pop — music
  10. land — ground
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. bat — the animal
  16. pop — soda
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. pop — to visit
  22. land — to come down
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. sharp — clever

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