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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. bass — low music
  3. spring — a coil
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. spring — the season
  7. pop — to visit
  8. bark — to shout
  9. pop — soda
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. bass — the fish
  13. capital — a city
  14. pop — music
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. capital — money
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. spring — of water
  21. ball — a great time
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. ball — a dance

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