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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: bulb · land · mine · lash · file · tube · court · bound

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. court — of law
  3. tube — a container
  4. land — ground
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. tube — the underground
  7. land — a country
  8. bulb — for light
  9. file — a tool
  10. bulb — for light
  11. court — for sport
  12. mine — for digging
  13. bound — certain
  14. file — a document
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bound — obliged
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. land — to come down
  19. file — a line of people
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. court — of a king
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. lash — to lash out

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