Homonyms
Homonyms can be subdivided into homographs and homophones. Homographs are words
which are written in the same way but have different meanings and may be pronounced
differently. Compare bow in 'he took a bow /bau/ at the end of the concert' and 'he was
wearing a bow /b:m/ tie'. Homophones are words with different meanings which are
pronounced in the same way but are spelt differently, e.g. bow as in 'he took a bow' and
bough, 'the bough of a tree'.
B
.....----'
Here are some more examples of homographs with differing pronunciations .
I live in the north of England. Ihvl
Your favourite rock group is singing live on TV tonight. /lalv/
I read in bed each night. /ri:d/
I read War and Peace last year. /redl
The lead singer in the group is great. /li:dl
Lead pipes are dangerous. /led/
The wind blew the tree down. Iwmd/
Wind the rope round this tree. Iwamdl
I wound my watch last night. Iwaund/
He suffered a terrible wound in the war. /wu:ndl
Some students at Oxford spend more time learning to row well than studying. 1f';Ju/
They shared a flat for ages until they had a row over money and split up. Iraul
They stood in a row and had their photo taken. /r~ul
This book is called English Vocabulary in Use. Iju:sl
You must know how to use words as well as their meaning. Iju:zl
They lived in a large old house. /haus/
The buildings house a library and two concert halls as well as a theatre. /hauzl
The sow has five piglets. Isaul
The farmers sow the seeds in the spring. /s~u/
Bathing the baby at night may help it to fall asleep. Iba:8II]/
(On a sign at a beach) No bathing Ibe]('hl]/
A
Ii
C
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A very large number of words in English are homographs or homophones. If a word that you read
or hear in English seems strange in its context, it may well be because it is not being used in the
sense that you are familiar with. Use your dictionary carefully to check for extra meanings.
Here are some of the many examples of homophones in English.
fare/fair
aloud/allowed
break/brake
air/heir
groan/grown
flulflew
grate/great
faze/phase
lays/laze
mail/male
hoarse/horse
itslit's
mown/moan
our/hour
pale/pail
meat/meet
place/plaice
pair/pear/pare
peal/peel
pane/pain
read/reed
pray/prey
raise/rays
practise/practice
right/rite/write
sale/sail
scene/seen
rein/rain
some/sum
sole/soul
sight/site
so/sew
there/their/they're
tea/tee
through/threw
steak/stake
waist/waste
wait/weight
toeltow
tireltyre
would/wood
weather/whether whine/wine
weak/week
English Vocabulary in Use (Upper-intermediate)
E.xercises
20.1
Each underlined word rhymes with, or sounds similar to, one of the words in brackets;
choose the matching word.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
20.2
The girl I live with knows a good pub with live music. (five/give)
The main house houses a collection of rare stamps. (mouse/browse)
It's no use. I can't use this gadget. (snooze/juice)
You sow the seeds while I feed the sow. (cow/go)
The violinist in the bow tie took a bow. (now/so)
He's the lead singer in the group 'Lead piping'. (head/deed)
What a row from the last house in the row! (ploughlthough)
Does he still suffer from his war wound? (foundltuned)
I wound the rope around the tree to strengthen it against the gale. (round/spooned)
It's quite hard to wind in the sails in this wind. (findltinned)
Write the word in phonetic script in the correct spelling for the context.
EXAMPLE I really must do some more exercise or I'll never lose /weJt/ w~jhr
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
20.3
Watching TV game shows is such a /weIst/ of time.
There is a hole in the /s;:m1l of my shoe.
He broke a /pem/ of glass in the kitchen window.
The eldest son of the monarch is the /eg/ to the throne.
You are not /g'laud/ to talk during the test.
Let's /'prrektIs/ our swimming together this evening.
He's going /8ru:/ a rather difficult /felz/ at the moment.
Don't throwaway that orange /pi:l/. I need it for a recipe.
Write one sentence using both of the words corresponding to the phonetic script.
01-.e. wos q,vire. Po./e. o.{1'er the. ~Ol\ of ~i~ such 0. heo.~ Po.i/ of Wo.rer.
3 /'prrektIs/
5 /wam/
7 /smt/
9 /h:):s/
6 /brelk/
8 /preJ/
10 /relz/
4 /greltI
EXAMPLE /peI1I
1 /oeg/
2 IIts/
20.4
Homophones and homographs are at the root of many jokes in English. Match the first
part of each of these children's jokes with the second part and then explain the play on
words involved in each.
1 What do you get if you cross a sheep and a kangaroo? Let's play draughts.
2 What did the south wind say to the north wind?
A drum takes a lot of beating.
3 Why did the man take his pencil to bed?
A woolly jumper.
He wanted to draw the curtains.
4 Why is history the sweetest lesson?
5 What's the best birthday present?
Because it's full of dates.
20.5
Choose pairs of words from C opposite to describe the pictures below.
2.
2b
(j
4a ~
t ---v
4b
English Vocabulary in Use (Upper-intermediate)
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