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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bulb — for light
  4. key — the most important part
  5. rest — what's left
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. content — happy
  8. capital — a city
  9. charge — electricity
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rest — what's left
  12. wind — moving air
  13. key — for a lock
  14. net — for catching
  15. content — the amount
  16. charge — a price
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. net — in sport
  19. wind — moving air
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. rest — a break
  22. capital — money
  23. charge — in control
  24. key — in music

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