Exploring Homographs

Fourth Grade Reading

by Sarah Zegarra November 19, 2018

There's no shortage of homographs in the English language, making them a fun topic to explore with your fourth
graders! In this lesson, students will become experts on distinguishing the different meanings of homographs.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to determine the meaning of common homographs using context clues and write
sentences showcasing their various meanings.

Materials and preparation Key terms

Class set of Words with Double Meanings homograph

Chart paper
Computer and video projector
Sticky notes, one per student
Class set of Double Meaning: Practicing
Homographs (optional)
Class set of Hold the Homographs! (optional)

Attachments

Words With Double Meanings (PDF)

Double Meaning: Practicing Homographs (PDF)
Homographs (PDF)

Introduction (5 minutes)

Ask students if they have noticed that some words have more than one meaning. Invite them to share
any examples they know, and discuss the multiple meanings. As they share their ideas, and throughout
the rest of the lesson, write each homograph (just the word) on a sticky note and place it on the board to
be used later as an assessment.
Inform students that today they will learn about a type of word called homographs.
Show students the video on homographs (see related media).
Ask students to turn to a partner, name a homograph they noticed in the video, and describe each
meaning.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling (5 minutes)

Tell students the word homograph has Greek origins because "homo" means same and "graphos"
means drawn or written in Greek. In other words, homographs are words that are spelled or written the
same but have different meanings. Sometimes the pronunciation is the same, and sometimes it is
different.
Ask students how they think people distinguish between the homographs when they read. Record student
responses on the chart paper (i.e., by using context clues or listening to what makes sense in the
sentence).

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Guided Practice (15 minutes)

Write the following sentences on a piece of chart, highlighting the homographs:

"He rose from a deep slumber."
"My friend gave me a single rose."
"Get that pesky fly out of here!"
"I would rather fly than drive."
"That wind feels refreshing."
"You have an awesome wind-up toy!"
For each sentence, draw a quick sketch of the meaning of the homograph, and discuss the differences
with the students (i.e., rose is the past tense of the verb to rise or to get up—draw a person lying down
and an arrow pointing up, and rose is also a type of flower—draw a rose).
Create a chart with three columns on a separate piece of chart paper. Label the middle column
homograph. The column to the left and to the right are for drawing and writing an example of each
meaning of the word.
Collaboratively with the students, complete the chart by writing more homographs not mentioned in the
lesson so far, along with an illustration and a sentence to go with each meaning.

Independent working time (15 minutes)

Distribute a copy of the Words with Double Meanings worksheet to each student.
Tell students they are to consider the meanings of the homographs on the worksheet and write a
sentence to go with each meaning.
Walk around to assist struggling students.

Related books and/or media

VIDEO: Homograph: Justin Bieber Parody by Songs for School

BOOK: Zoola Palooza: A Book of Homographs by Gene Barretta

Differentiation

Support:

Students who need more time working with homographs may complete the Double Meaning: Practicing
Homographs worksheet in a small group, with the help of a dictionary.
Read aloud the book by Gene Barretta entitled Zoola Palooza: A Book of Homographs so they may see
more examples of homographs with visual aides.

Enrichment:

Encourage students to write a comical poem, using homographs, that they can share with the class.
Invite students to research puns that use homographs as an extension activity.
Give your early finishers and advanced learners the worksheet Hold the Homographs which challenges
them to come up with a homograph when given two separate definitions of the word (see optional
materials).

Assessment (5 minutes)

Provide students with a sticky note with a homograph on it from earlier in the lesson.
Instruct students to either write on the sticky note the definition of both meanings of the homograph or
write a sentence using both meanings and use it as their exit ticket.
Evaluate the quality of their definitions and sentences to gauge their level of understanding.

Review and closing (5 minutes)

Challenge students to teach their families at home or a younger student during recess the definition of
homographs, along with a few examples.

Get more lesson plans at https://www.education.com/lesson-plans/

Invite students to come up with a single sentence, using both meanings of the homograph to share with
their families or other students, such as "It is only fair for you to let me go to the fair" or "I object to that
object being placed in my room."

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 Double Meaning Words
Homographs are words that have one spelling, but two or more
meanings. For every word below, write two sentences that illustrate
the multiple meanings of the words.

Break

Track

Fire

Shop

Place

Set

Store

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(Workman, 2008)
 Hold the
Homographs!!! Name

Homographs are words that look the same but have more than one
meaning, and sometimes more than one pronunciation. For Bat
example, there is an animal called a “bat”, and there is
also a “bat” that baseball players use to hit the ball.

Read the definitions below and write down the homograph

that best fits both sentences.

1. The front of a ship OR a ribbon tied up in a girl’s hair.

2. A place for stray animals OR 16 ounces.

3. The outer layer of a tree OR the sound a dog makes.

4. A person who rules a country OR something used to measure.

5. A type of flower OR the past tense of “to rise”.

6. The earth beneath you OR the past tense of “to grind”.

7. A type of tree that grows in warm climates OR a part of you hand.

8. Spectacles you wear to improve vision OR cups to drink from.

9. To rip something OR a fluid that comes from the eye.

10. To be a short distance away OR to cover an opening.

Riddle Challenge!
Why was the picture sent to jail?

Answer: Because it was framed.

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