Multiple-Meaning Words Worksheets for 2nd Grade
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Skill: Using sentence clues to choose the meaning of a word that has more than one meaning
Teaching tips and what to try next
Made for second graders who read short sentences on their own and know that words can have more than one meaning. If your child picks the meaning they know best every time, have them point to the clue word in the sentence before choosing. Words with opposite and similar meanings are in Synonyms and Antonyms, and Compound Words shows how two words can make a new one.
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About this worksheet
Some words have more than one meaning. A bat can be a small flying animal or the stick used to hit a ball, and only the rest of the sentence tells you which one a writer means. Second graders are expected to use sentence clues to figure out word meanings, and this second grade worksheet practices that with common multiple-meaning words.
The page has ten sentences. Each one has a word in bold, and children circle the meaning that fits the sentence. Five words appear twice: bat, bark, ring, wave and trunk. Each word is used once with one meaning and once with the other, and the two sentences are spread apart on the page so children can't just copy an answer. The choices for a word stay the same both times, so children have to decide which clue in the sentence points to the right meaning.
How to use it: read each sentence aloud and ask, "Which words help you know what it means here?" In a sentence about an elephant spraying water, the clue is the elephant. After your child chooses, have them read the sentence again with the meaning in place of the word to check that it makes sense. As a follow-up, take turns making up two sentences for words like ring or wave, one for each meaning, or look for other words with two meanings, such as fly and park.
The answer key shows the correct meaning for every sentence. For more word meaning practice, try our Synonyms and Antonyms worksheet and our Compound Words worksheet.