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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: pound · perch · sharp · ball · row · wind · club · hand

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. wind — moving air
  4. ball — a great time
  5. club — for dancing
  6. pound — a weight
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. club — for golf
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. wind — moving air
  13. hand — help
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. ball — a dance
  17. hand — in cards
  18. row — a line
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. row — to paddle
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. sharp — clever
  24. club — a group

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