Homonyms, Homophones and Homographs - What are they?

Homonyms can sometimes be confusing for children when writing and spelling.

BUT

What are Homonyms?

Homonyms:- are words that sound or are spelt the same but are different in meaning. ('Homo' meaning the same and 'nym' meaning name)

There are two types of Homonyms:

Homophones:- are words that sound the same but have different meanings and sometimes different spellings. ('Homo' meaning the same and 'phone' meaning sound)

Homographs:- are words that are spelt the same but have different meanings and sometimes are pronounced differently. ('Homo' meaning the same and 'graph' meaning to write)

The following is a list of Homonyms:

Example of Homophones:

• Air / Heir

• Aisle / Isle

• Allowed / Aloud

• Altar / Alter

• Ate / Eight

• Ball / Bawl

• Bare / Bear

• Barren / Baron

• Base / Bass

• Bean / Been

• Berry / Bury

• Birth / Berth

• Blue / Blew

• Border / Boarder

• Bow / Bough

• Boy / Buoy

• Brake / Break

• Buy / By

• Ceiling / Sealing

• Cent / Scent / Sent

• Cereal / Serial

• Check / Cheque

• Chews / Choose

• Coarse / Course

• Complement / Compliment

• Corps / Core

• Council / Counsel

• Creek / Creak

• Current / Currant

• Dear / Deer

• Dessert / Desert

• Dew / Due

• Die / Dye

• Doe / Dough

• Draw / Drawer

• Faint / Feint

• Fair / Fare

• Fate / Fete

• Father / Farther

• Flee / Flea

• Flower / Flour

• For / Four / Fore

• Fought / Fort

• Foul / Fowl

• Fur / Fir

• Gate / Gait

• Great / Grate

• Guessed / Guest

• Hair / Hare

• Hail / Hale

• Heal / Heel / He'll

• Heard / Herd

• Hear / Here

• Him / Hymn

• Hole / Whole

• Hoarse / Horse

• Hour / Our

• Idle / Idol

• In / Inn

• Its / It's

• Key / Quay

• Knead / Need

• Knew / New

• Knit / Nit

• Knot / Not

• Know / No

• Lead / Led

• Liar / Lyre

• Load / Lode

• Made / Maid

• Mail / Male

• Main / Mane

• Mare / Mayor

• Meat / Meet

• Medal / Meddle

• Mettle / Metal

• Missed / Mist

• Naval / Navel

• Night / Knight

• One / Won

• Or / Oar / Ore

• Pain / Pane

• Pair / Pare / Pear

• Pale / Pail

• Past / Passed

• Pause / Paws / Pours

• Peace / Piece

• Peel / Peal

• Plain / Plane

• Pour / Poor / Paw / Pore

• Practice / Practise

• Praise / Preys / Prays

• Principal / Principle

• Profit / Prophet

• Rain / Reign / Rein

• Rap / Wrap

• Read / Reed

• Read / Red

• Real / Reel

• Right / Write

• Ring / Wring

• Root / Route

• Rose / Rows

• Rote / Wrote

• Rung / Wrung

• Sail / Sale

• Sauce / Source

• Saw / Soar / Sore

• See / Sea

• Seen / Scene

• Sell / Cell

• Sew / So / Sow

• Sheer / Shear

• Site / Sight

• Stair / Stare

• Stationery / Stationary

• Steal / Steel

• Steak / Stake

• Stork / Stalk

• Story / Storey

• Strait / Straight

• Sun / Son

• Tail / Tale

• There / Their / They're

• Threw / Through

• Throne / Thrown

• To / Too / Two

• Toe / Tow

• Vain / Vein / Vane

• Wade / Weighed

• Waist / Waste

• Wait / Weight

• Wave / Waive

• Way / Weigh

• Weak / Week

• Wear / Ware / Where

• Weather / Wether / Whether

• Whale / Wail

• Wheel / We'll

• Which / Witch

• Whose / Who's

• Yolk / Yoke

• Your / You're

  Example of Homographs:

  - there are many words that have more than one meaning that to list would be too large. Some of the more common ones are:

  Back, Ball, Bank, Bar, Bark, Base, Bat, Bear, Beat, Bill, Block, Board, Bow, Calf, Case, Cast, Change, Coat, Court, Cricket, Cross, Duck, Felt, Fit, Foot, Hail, Hand, Hide, Iron, Jam, Jump, Kid, Kind, Lap, Lay, Leaves, Left, Lie, Lock, Mail, Match, Nail, Note, Organ, Page, Patient, Play, Post, Ring, Rock, Roll, Sack, Season, Sign, Spell, Spring, Star, Stick, Tear, Top, Train, Watch, Wave, Wind.

  And there are some words that are both Homophones and Homographs:

  Bow, Check, Deer, Fair, Right