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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 116 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. cap — a lid
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. rash — a series
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. squash — to crush
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. chair — a leader
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cap — a hat
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. rash — hasty
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — after costs
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. cap — of ice
  23. net — for catching
  24. squash — the sport

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