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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. kid — child
  5. bore — to drill
  6. present — a gift
  7. tube — a container
  8. present — there
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. season — in sport
  11. wind — moving air
  12. season — of the year
  13. present — the time now
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. stock — goods
  18. capital — a city
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bore — to tire
  22. stock — shares
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a big letter

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