VOCABULARY

MULTIPLE MEANING WORDS

What are multiple meaning words?

Many words have more than one meaning. We call these multiple meaning words. There are two types of multiple meaning words.

The first type of multiple meaning words have the same spelling and are pronounced the same but have different meaning.

For example:  Scrape the scale off of the fish before you weigh it on the scale.

The first “scale” in the sentence means the covering found on some fishes and the second “scale” is the instrument used to measure mass.

The second type of multiple meaning words are a words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently for different meanings.

For example: wind (moving air) and wind (to wrap around)

  Tips for decoding multiple meaning words:

•  Use context clues. Ask: What is the part of speech for the word? Does another words in the sentence or other sentences give clues to its meaning?

•  Use a dictionary. Look at the different definitions and ask:Does this definition make sense as it is used in the text? Keep looking until one definition is correct and fits. 
• Pay close attention to the pronunciation–you might have heard the word before, but pronounced differently. 

                 Click to view the video above to find out more about multiple meaning words

Task: Think about three sets of multiple meaning words and write them in sentences to bring out their meanings.
We will discuss these words in our next Vocabulary class.