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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: foot · wind · capital · degree · fall · court · calf · bat

  1. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  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. calf — of the leg
  2. fall — to drop
  3. foot — a measure
  4. court — for sport
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. bat — the animal
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. wind — moving air
  10. court — of law
  11. capital — money
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. wind — moving air
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. degree — temperature
  17. fall — to drop
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. degree — an amount
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. degree — from a university
  22. capital — a city
  23. court — of a king
  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