ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

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: foot · pound · cold · mine · file · current · calf · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. file — a tool
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. current — happening now
  7. current — electric
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. cold — not warm
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. capital — money
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. file — a document
  15. mine — for digging
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. foot — a measure
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. pound — a weight
  21. file — a line of people
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. current — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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