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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: fall · straw · land · net · season · wind · tear · calf

  1. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. fall — to drop
  4. season — of the year
  5. net — after costs
  6. land — a country
  7. net — for catching
  8. tear — from crying
  9. season — in sport
  10. tear — from crying
  11. net — in sport
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. fall — to drop
  14. wind — moving air
  15. land — ground
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. tear — to rip
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. fall — the season
  20. wind — moving air
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. land — to come down
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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