Homophones
Ian Birchenough- Educationalist, Chair of Governors, entrepreneur and retired teacher
The word homophone comes from Greek and is made up from two words:“ Homo” meaning“ same” and Phono meaning“ sound” therefore when you put the two words together you get“ same sound”. Homophones are words that sound the same but may have different spellings and different meanings. So now you know where we get the word“ headphones” from!
Choose the correct word to complete each sentence
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I _____________ in my diary every day at school. write or right
He made a wish and _____________ really hard! blue or blew
Often when I read forums on-line, I see how many people confuse words that sound correct but are spelt incorrectly. Unfortunately the English language has lots of these words and there is no simple rule for choosing the correct word, you just have to know which word is the right one. There are some examples below and I am sure you can think of lots of others.
Their, they’ re, there
These three words are probably the ones most often confused. Their- is connected to ownership- Their car was stolen, their team was beaten, their lunch was cold.
How to test if you have got it right. Usually you can swap“ their” for“ our” and the sentence still makes sense.
They’ re- is a contraction of“ they are”( contraction means shortened version). Examples: They’ re off to the match,( they are off to the match). They’ re staying in tonight. They’ re expecting good news.
How to test if you have got it right. Put the full words“ they are” in instead and the sentence should still make sense.
There- is often connected with a place Example: He is over there, I went there on my holiday, there is the car park.
How to test if you have got it right. Try the sentence with“ here” instead of“ there” and it should still make sense.
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My football team _____________ the match today! one or won
There is only one more _____________ left until the holidays. week or weak
I ate a large _____________ of sponge cake. piece or peace
Let’ s _____________ the apples using these scales. way or weigh
Do you _____________ if they have arrived yet? know or no
I will be _____________ years old in two days. eight or ate
The black _____________ grabbed a fish to eat. bare or bear
Please do not _____________ the paper. waste or waist
I got a new _____________ of shoes for school. pear or pair
I saw the _____________ jump through the grass. hare or hair
I _____________ the answer right away! new or knew
Our dog is always wagging his _____________. tail or tale
First dig a _____________, then plant the seed. whole or hole
Be sure to tie a _____________ in the rope. knot or not
We walked _____________ the office to our classroom. past or passed
Can you _____________ the school band? here or hear
Have you been _____________ the shop yet? to, too or two
Did John go with you _____________? to, too or two
Did you remember __________ buy __________ bottles of milk? to, too or two
1. write 2. blew 3. won 4. week 5. piece 6. weigh 7. know 8. eight 9. bear 10. waste 11. pair 12. hare 13. knew 14. tail 15. hole 16. knot 17. past 18. hear 19. to 20. too 21. to and two