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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: safe · court · coach · spring · wax · kid · chest · tube

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. court — for sport
  5. kid — to tease
  6. chest — of your body
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. tube — the underground
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. wax — to grow
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. kid — child
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. chest — a box
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. court — of a king
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. tube — a container
  24. court — of law

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