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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: perch · pitcher · fall · club · pound · kid · deal · wind

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. fall — to drop
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. fall — to drop
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. perch — the fish
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. club — a group
  19. fall — the season
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. kid — child
  22. club — for golf
  23. wind — moving air
  24. club — for dancing

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