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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: chest · bound · cell · press · fork · net

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. bound — obliged
  3. net — after costs
  4. fork — in a road
  5. bound — certain
  6. bound — tied together
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in biology
  9. net — for catching
  10. press — newspapers
  11. chest — a box
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. chest — of your body
  14. net — in sport
  15. press — a publisher
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. chest — of your body
  18. cell — in a prison

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