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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: key · clip · cold · perch · prune · patient · squash · saw

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. perch — the fish
  3. cold — an illness
  4. prune — to trim
  5. key — in music
  6. squash — to crush
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. squash — the sport
  10. clip — a video
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. clip — for paper
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. cold — not warm
  15. key — the most important part
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. prune — to trim
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. key — for a lock
  24. perch — for a bird

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