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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.

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: rock · clip · present · mine · cold · key · file · perch

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. cold — an illness
  3. key — in music
  4. file — a line of people
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. present — the time now
  7. file — a tool
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — the fish
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. present — a gift
  13. clip — a video
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. key — for a lock
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. rock — music
  18. file — a document
  19. cold — not warm
  20. clip — for paper
  21. mine — for digging
  22. present — there
  23. clip — to cut
  24. rock — a stone

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