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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: tear · fall · calf · shower · wind · land · capital · bear

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. shower — to wash
  3. fall — to drop
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bear — the animal
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. land — to come down
  14. shower — rain
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. fall — to drop
  17. capital — money
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. land — ground
  20. land — a country
  21. bear — the animal
  22. tear — to rip
  23. capital — a city
  24. fall — the season

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