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

Word bank: bound · pit · board · chair · temple · fork · clip · chest

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bound — certain
  3. chair — a leader
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. chest — a box
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. clip — for paper
  13. fork — in a road
  14. chest — of your body
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. pit — a hole
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. pit — in a race
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. board — a committee
  23. board — to get on
  24. bound — tied together

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