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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: club · degree · bore · safe · date · land · bound · clip

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. land — to come down
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. bore — to tire
  8. land — a country
  9. land — ground
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. bound — certain
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. bore — to drill
  14. degree — from a university
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. club — for dancing
  17. date — the fruit
  18. clip — for paper
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bound — tied together
  22. degree — an amount
  23. degree — temperature
  24. club — a group

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