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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: calf · race · land · court · net · shower · bay · fall

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. shower — to wash
  4. court — for sport
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. court — of a king
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. court — of law
  11. net — for catching
  12. race — humankind
  13. net — in sport
  14. race — a contest
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. fall — to drop
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. race — the arms race
  21. land — ground
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. shower — rain

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