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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bound · bark · press · cold · bulb · net · fall · fork

  1. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. bound — tied together
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. press — a publisher
  6. fall — the season
  7. net — for catching
  8. bound — obliged
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bulb — for light
  16. cold — an illness
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — after costs
  21. fall — to drop
  22. bound — certain
  23. press — newspapers
  24. bark — of a tree

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