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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: roll · hand · kid · toast · game · bound · coach · cold

  1. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. toast — bread
  5. roll — a list
  6. kid — to tease
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. kid — child
  9. roll — a cake
  10. hand — help
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. bound — certain
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bound — obliged
  16. cold — an illness
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. game — a match
  20. hand — in cards
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bound — tied together
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. game — wild animals

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