Homophones

Choosing the right word to use when you are talking is sometimes easier than when you are writing, because spelling matters. One word may sound the same as another, but be spelled differently and mean something very different. Words like these are called homophones.

When you spell a word correctly, running a spell check in your word processing program won’t show you that you made a wrong word choice. Open a Word document and type this sentence: “There are two many things too do.” Now run the spell check. Notice that it doesn’t show any errors. It’s important to choose the correct word so that you are understood.

You already know a lot of homophones, even if you didn’t know that’s what they are called. Can you identify a homophone in the previous sentence?

Look at the examples in this grammar handbook and homophone list, then in your workbook, write down some other homophones that you know.

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Practice recognizing homophones by playing this matching game. If there are any words that you do not know the meaning of, look them up in a dictionary.

Follow-up activities:

Write down in your notebook any homophones that you see in your reading, or hear over the next week. Check in the dictionary if you don’t know a word meaning. Use 5 of them correctly in sentences. Share your list and sentences in our class discussion later in the week. How many homophones did you find in these instructions?

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