This multiple meanings worksheet has 1st grade students use sentence clues to circle the right picture and name picture pairs with one word. An answer key is included for fast, easy checking.
This illustrating multiple meaning worksheet has 2nd grade students circle the meaning of bat, bark and duck in each sentence and draw a picture of it. An answer key is included to make checking quick.
The Matching Multiple Meaning Worksheet helps 2nd graders use sentence context to match bold homonyms like bat, clip, and check to the right meaning. Answer key included — an easy, no-prep context-clues activity.
This multiple meanings writing sentences worksheet gives 3rd graders two words, two illustrated meanings each, and room to write their own sentences so they learn to read tricky words in context.
Using this L.4.4 Common Core Activity, students will determine or clarify the meaning of unknown or multiple meaning words.
This L.2.4 Second Grade Common Core Lesson includes L.2.4 Worksheets, L.2.4 Activities, L.2.4 Assessment, and L.2.4 Poster.
Using L.4.1 Fourth Grade Common Core Lesson, students correctly use frequently confused words in order to clearly share their message.
Same word, totally different meaning
Homonyms are words that look and sound the same but have different meanings. A bat can be a flying animal or the stick you swing at a ball. A dog's bark is not the same as a tree's bark! Kids usually meet homonyms in 2nd grade and keep growing with them through 4th grade, when they use context clues to figure out which meaning fits a sentence. Many classes also compare them to homophones, like to, too and two, that only sound alike. The click moment comes when a child giggles at a joke that only works because of a word with two meanings.
Homonyms are word play at its best. These moves help kids see both meanings and choose the right one.
Fold a paper in half and write one homonym at the top, like "ring." Kids draw one meaning on each side: a ring on a finger and a phone ringing. Drawing both pictures makes the two meanings impossible to mix up.
Why it works: pairing a picture with each word gives kids two ways to remember it, a well-tested principle of how people learn (Mayer, 2009).
Try it withIllustrating Multiple Meaning WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Read a sentence like "The pitcher poured lemonade" and think out loud: "Pitcher could mean a baseball player, but poured tells me it is a jug!" Modeling how you use the other words in the sentence teaches the strategy kids need for reading.
Why it works: handing over the work step by step, from teacher to student, is one of the most widely used teaching frameworks (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983).
Try it withL.2.4 Second Grade Common Core LessonCommon Core LessonsOpen it →Give pairs of sentences that use the same word and have kids match each one to its meaning. Short, frequent rounds like this build the habit of checking which meaning fits before moving on.
Why it works: pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than rereading it, one of the strongest findings in learning research (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013).
Try it withMatching Multiple Meaning WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Homonyms are made for silly sentences and jokes!
WorksheetsWrite one sentence that uses both meanings of a homonym: "The bat flew past my baseball bat!"
Open Multiple Meanings Writing Sentences Worksheet →
WorksheetsRead a sentence and circle which picture shows the meaning that fits.
Open Multiple Meanings Worksheet →
ActivitiesSort sentence cards into piles by which meaning of the word they use.
Open L.4.4 Common Core Activity →Teacher favorites right now: Multiple Meanings Worksheet, Illustrating Multiple Meaning Worksheet and Matching Multiple Meaning Worksheet.
A homonym is a word that is spelled and pronounced the same as another word but has a different meaning, like bat, bark or ring. Some teachers use the word more loosely to include homophones too.
Homonyms look and sound the same but mean different things. Homophones sound the same but are spelled differently, like hear and here, or flower and flour.
Most kids start with multiple-meaning words in 2nd grade and keep working on them through 4th grade, using context clues to choose the right meaning.
Try bat, bark, ring, fall, park, wave, bear and fly. Each one has two meanings kids already know, so it is easy to draw and talk about both.
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