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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 120 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: branch · plane · chest · press · spring · net · sharp · cell

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. press — to push
  4. chest — of your body
  5. press — a publisher
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. branch — a division
  8. press — newspapers
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. net — for catching
  11. spring — a coil
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. plane — a tool
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. spring — of water
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. spring — the season
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. sharp — clever
  23. net — in sport
  24. net — after costs

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