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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: spring · dip · court · file · tube · last · wax · bound

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. file — a line of people
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. spring — the season
  6. tube — a container
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — for sport
  10. file — a document
  11. dip — to sink
  12. last — final
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — certain
  15. bound — obliged
  16. spring — of water
  17. last — to go on
  18. tube — the underground
  19. last — finally
  20. court — of law
  21. wax — to grow
  22. file — a tool
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. spring — a coil

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