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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pop · land · content · bulb · bat · game · kick · sharp

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  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. content — happy
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bulb — for light
  4. land — ground
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. bulb — for light
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. pop — music
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. game — a match
  13. content — the amount
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. kick — in football
  16. land — to come down
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. land — a country
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. game — wild animals
  21. sharp — clever
  22. pop — soda
  23. pop — to visit
  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