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