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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 120 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: plane · deal · race · tear · mine · snap

  1. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. snap — to click
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. tear — from crying
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. race — the arms race
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. tear — to rip
  11. plane — a tool
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — humankind
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. mine — for digging
  16. deal — to handle
  17. tear — from crying
  18. mine — belonging to me

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