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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: rush · trunk · degree · club · land · bound · clip · net

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. clip — for paper
  4. net — in sport
  5. bound — certain
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. club — for dancing
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. land — ground
  10. land — a country
  11. degree — from a university
  12. net — after costs
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bound — tied together
  15. rush — hurry
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. club — a group
  18. land — to come down
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bound — obliged
  21. net — for catching
  22. club — for golf
  23. clip — a video
  24. trunk — of a car

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