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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: tear · race · plane · spell · object · kid · bay · snap

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  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. snap — to click
  2. race — humankind
  3. tear — to rip
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. kid — to tease
  6. object — a thing
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. plane — a tool
  9. spell — magic
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. spell — a short time
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. spell — letters
  15. object — to protest
  16. object — an aim
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bay — a horse colour
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. race — the arms race
  21. tear — from crying
  22. race — a contest
  23. plane — in geometry
  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