• 5th Grade
  • Reading
  • About 10 minutes

Homographs

Homographs are spelled the same but mean different things, and many sound different. Write A or B for the meaning in each sentence.

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This is sheet #186924601.

How to do it

  1. Read the two meanings.
  2. Read each sentence.
  3. Write A or B for the meaning.

Teaching tip

Read both sentences out loud. Many homographs sound different with each meaning. This sheet is aligned with Common Core L.5.5.

Homographs worksheet for 5th grade (figurative language), free printable
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About this worksheet

Homographs like wind, tear and present, each with two meanings and two sentences to match. Fewer, Standard or More give 4, 5 or 6 words. Includes an answer key.

What kids practice

In 4th grade, students learned similes, metaphors, idioms and proverbs. This topic adds four more kinds of figurative language: personification (giving human actions to things), hyperbole (big exaggeration), alliteration (repeating first sounds) and onomatopoeia (sound words). Students also look at how words relate: synonyms, antonyms, and homographs, which are spelled the same but mean different things, like the wind and wind the string.

Watch for

  • Taking a hyperbole literally, like thinking a backpack really weighs a ton.
  • Calling any sentence about a thing personification, even when the thing does something it really can do.
  • Counting words that only share a letter, not a sound, as alliteration.
  • Choosing a homograph's meaning without reading the rest of the sentence.

It's free to print, with Fewer, Standard or More on the page and an answer key. See the full figurative language guide for 5th grade.

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