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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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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: toast · bound · cold · game · rest · cue · cell · chest

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. game — wild animals
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. rest — what's left
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. cue — a signal
  8. game — a match
  9. cue — a hint
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bound — obliged
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cell — in biology
  16. bound — tied together
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cue — for pool
  19. chest — a box
  20. toast — bread
  21. rest — a break
  22. bound — certain
  23. cold — an illness
  24. rest — what's left

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