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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: land · kid · trunk · cap · cell · last · fork · roll

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. land — ground
  6. fork — in a road
  7. kid — to tease
  8. roll — a cake
  9. cap — of ice
  10. last — to go on
  11. cell — in biology
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. cap — a hat
  15. last — finally
  16. land — a country
  17. land — to come down
  18. kid — child
  19. cell — a phone
  20. last — final
  21. cap — a lid
  22. roll — a list
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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