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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: bound · mouse · game · key · cold · hand · bat · race

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. key — in music
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bound — certain
  11. cold — not warm
  12. game — a match
  13. game — wild animals
  14. race — a contest
  15. key — for a lock
  16. hand — in cards
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. race — the arms race
  20. hand — help
  21. bat — the animal
  22. race — humankind
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. key — the most important part

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