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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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Word bank
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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: capital · spell · trunk · kid · rule · plane · nail · last

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. spell — letters
  4. plane — a tool
  5. spell — magic
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. kid — to tease
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rule — a law
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. capital — money
  14. last — to go on
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. last — finally
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. rule — government
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. spell — a short time
  24. kid — child

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