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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: capital · land · calf · fall · cell · wind

  1. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — a young animal
  2. capital — a city
  3. wind — moving air
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. fall — to drop
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cell — a phone
  12. fall — the season
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cell — in biology
  15. capital — money
  16. land — ground
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. cell — in a prison

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