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How to Teach Homophones

a small deer with big eyes in a field

It’s a common scenario; people everywhere do it—maybe even you or your child.

You’re writing a note and are about to write the word peak. But wait! Your pencil poises midair: is it sneak peak? Or is it sneak peek? Now consider stationary and stationery; they are both pronounced the same, but which one means writing paper?

These sets of words are called homophones (or sometimes homonyms), and they can cause a lot of trouble for spellers.

What Are Homophones?

Homophones are two or more words that sound alike but that are spelled differently and have different meanings.

Here are a few homophone pairs: deer and dear, billed and build, and sew, so, and sow.

Homophones occur in English because there are multiple ways to spell the same sound. For example:

  • The sound of /n/ can be spelled with the letter N or the letter combination KN, resulting in the homophones night and knight.
  • The sound of /ā/ can be spelled A-consonant-E or AY (among other possible spellings), giving us daze and days.
  • The schwa sound (the muffled /uh/ sound of vowels in unaccented syllables) causes words like complement and compliment to be pronounced alike.

How Are Homophones Different from Homographs and Homonyms?

Good question! Let’s look at homographs first.

Homographs are words that are spelled the same, but have different meanings and may have different pronunciations.

Examples of common homographs include:

  • does and does
    He does like to run. Does are female deer.
    (Same spelling, different pronunciation.)

  • wind and wind
    I can feel the wind in my hair. Wind up the string before it gets tangled.
    (Same spelling, different pronunciation.)

Homonyms are words that are pronounced the same and spelled the same, but have different meanings.

Here are some examples of homonyms:

  • bear and bear
    We saw a bear in the woods. The cold was more than he could bear.
    (Same spelling, same pronunciation.)

  • left and left
    They left the coin on the beach. Turn left when you get to the lemonade stand.
    (Same spelling, same pronunciation.)

You may have noticed that there is some overlap between the terms. For example, well and well can be categorized as both homographs AND homophones. And then there is added confusion because many people use the word homonyms when they are actually talking about homophones.

The easiest way to visualize the difference between these three terms is with a Venn diagram. Here’s a 30-second video that demonstrates the concepts.

Now that we’ve gotten the technical part out of the way, let’s see if we can help you and your children avoid homophone confusion!

List of Homophones

First, let’s start with a list. There are LOTS of homophones. In fact, the list below contains more homophone pairs than you can shake a stick at! In order to make this list as useful as possible, words that are archaic, slang, naughty, or extremely uncommon have not been included.

Download this BIG list of homophones!

Regional Accents Can Affect Whether Words Are Homophones

Some words are homophones in some areas but not in others. For example, in certain parts of America, weather and whether are pronounced the same, but in other regions the WH in whether has retained a distinct /hw/ sound. The words acts and ax sound alike to most of us, but some people pronounce the T in acts.

Speakers in the U.S. pronounce due and do identically, but in most British accents those words are pronounced differently. The words boy and buoy have the same pronunciation in England (and therefore are homophones), but not in America.

You can be the final judge as to whether certain word pairs are homophones in your neck of the woods.

My #1 Tip for Teaching Homophones

If your child struggles with spelling, concentrating on homophone pairs is one of the most confusing things you can do. Why is that? Think about it like this: imagine you met three new people this week.

Would it be easier to remember their names if you met them all at the same time? Or would their names be easier to remember if you met them at different times, under different circumstances? Most of us would agree that it would be easier to recall their names if the meetings were spaced out a bit.

Homophones are like that: meet them all at once and they get tangled up in your brain.

Trying to tackle a homophone pair like wait and weight in the same lesson can cause confusion where there shouldn’t be any. But this simple strategy can combat the confusion:

Teach the spelling of the words from the homophone pair one at a time.

In the case of wait and weight, teach wait first. In the All About Spelling program, we teach words containing AI long before we teach words containing EIGH – and we do so very deliberately. The vowel team AI is a much more common spelling of the long A sound than EIGH, so wait is taught sooner in the program.

After teaching the word wait, we reinforce the teaching in multiple ways until the word is mastered:

  • Wait is included in sentence dictation. The student spells the word wait in the context of dictated sentences.
  • Wait is included in the Word Banks. The student reads from the Word Banks frequently so he can get familiar with how the word looks.
  • Wait is on a Word Card, and that Word Card is reviewed frequently until it is mastered and retired.

And that leads us to my #1 tip for teaching homophones:

Let your student fully master the correct spelling and usage of wait before the homophone weight is introduced. By doing so, you greatly minimize the confusion and set your child up for success with homophones.

Teach Homophones in Context

Another great way to minimize homophone confusion is to provide context for the words. When teaching the word sore, for example, you might share this interesting folk remedy:

If you have a sore throat, try this: spit into the mouth of a frog and your sore throat will be cured!

Now there’s something to talk about:

  • Discuss the meaning of sore in this sentence.
  • Ask your child if he really thinks a sore throat could be cured this way.
  • Talk about other folk remedies.
  • Create a tongue twister using the word sore (Sally’s sore shin sure shines).

By the time the lesson is over, your child will be much more familiar with the meaning and spelling of this synonym for painful.

Of course, you can’t go into this much detail to teach every homophone, but even placing the word in a meaningful sentence goes a long way to provide clarity.

4 More Great Ideas for Teaching Homophones

Homophones can be confusing, but they can also be fun! There are lots of ways to make learning about homophones enjoyable, such as using games, tongue twisters, graphic organizers, storybooks, and more. Check out the resources below!

Free Homophone Riddles and Puns - download yours now

Pique your child’s interest in homophones by sharing these riddles and puns. For example:
Q: What is a quick look at a mountaintop? A: A peak peek.

(Download our free Homophone Riddles and Puns here!)


My List of Homophones - download your free PDF

When a spelling word has a homophone, point it out to your student and have him add it to his own personal homophones list.

(Download My List of Homophones here!)


All About Homophones teaching toolkit

Help your child master the use of homophones the fun way!

All About Homophones gives you more than 240 pages of engaging homophone activities, homophone games, spelling resources, and teaching tools for more homophones than you can shake a stick at!


And finally, here’s a shameless plug for our All About Spelling program…

Cover of Level 3 All About Spelling program

All About Spelling incorporates all the tips you’ve read about in this article.

Beginning in Level 3, the All About Spelling program teaches homophones in a way that prevents homophone confusion.

Which pairs of homophones cause your child the most difficulty? Post in the comments below!

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Li

says:

‘There’ and ‘they’re’

Robin

says: Customer Service

Good question, Li!

Mastering homophones is a work of some time! (Most adults will still on rare occasions misuse there, they’re, and their when they are writing quickly or are otherwise distracted.)

With such confusion, it may be helpful to focus on just one of the words for a while until your student has its usage down well. Start with they’re and let your student know that it is the spelling to use for all the dictation you will do for a while. Then practice sentences that use they’re. Discuss how they are all “they are” doing something, a group of individuals.

After a couple of days of just using they’re successfully, let your student know that you will do a mix of they’re and there and that they will need to focus carefully on which are talking about a group of individuals and which are not. If is the group, then they need to see if they can say “they are” instead of “they’re.” If they can, then they know that it must be “they’re” in that sentence. If “they are” cannot be substituted, then the sentence must have “there.”

I’m thinking this will help clear things up. The word “there” is usually the tricky one, as it has so many definitions and they are so vague and allusive. Well, the definition that means “that place” is clear, but the majority of the times we use the word “there” that is not the meaning we are using. Because of the complexity of the usages of the word “there,” it is often easiest for children to learn when to use “they’re” and “their” and then learn if “they’re” or “their” don’t work, then it must be “there.”

Just keep in mind it can take a lot of time for children to master the use of homophones, especially when they are doing their own writing (like creative writing, essays, and such).

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have additional questions.

Sithabile Farisai Mahleka

says:

Thank yo very much. It’s very rich and very helpful

Robin

says: Customer Service

I’m glad this was helpful, Sithabile. You’re welcome.

Janelle

says:

Thank you for stating when and how to teach these types of words. We love the tiles app, so we’ll download this too. Are there any other apps that you put out?

Robin

says: Customer Service

Great question, Janelle! Yes, we have four apps total. Check out our All About Learning Press Apps page!

Juliet

says:

Can you help me on How to use homophones correctly.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I’m happy to help, Juliet. What difficulties are you having using homophones?

Melisa Gotora

says:

Can u help me with methods of establishing 30 sets of homophones

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I’m not sure what you mean by establishing sets of homophones, Melisa. I’m happy to help if you can explain what it is you need.

Melisa Gotora

says:

Thank u so much it was helpful

Donald Knight

says:

Fascinating and practical!!

Pamela

says:

Thank so much now I understand clearly .

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Thank you, Donald!

Kawana lamech

says:

Flour and flower how can you teach those two words in pre-reading, while reading and post reading to grade 1 learners?

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Kawana,
The best way to approach homophones like flower and flour is to first wait until the student has mastered the phonograms and is ready to sound out and read one of the words. So, when the child has learned the OU phonogram and how to read the /ow/ sound, you could teach flour. Teach the child what the word means as well.

Then, after some time has passed, a few weeks at least with lots of practice reading this word, if the child has learned to read the ER phonogram, then you can teach flower and its meaning.

However, teaching it to a pre-reading child suggests a program that teaches memorizing words instead of learning to sound them out and read them.

Does this answer your question?

sherin

says:

hi
i need help with deer, dear are they pronounced same?
Is the sound of ea in dear long E ?

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Yes, Sherin. Dear and deer are homophones, pronounced exactly the same.

PRAVIN TRIPATHI

says:

But how the child will get to know when to spell what

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Good question, Pravin. Homophones like these must be learned visually. They simply need to learn that deer is an animal and everything else is dear.

Sussan

says:

I really had a fun filled day learning from your blog, mostly the folk, ‘spitting in the mouth of afrog’ and ‘the homophones machine’.
In fact, you’ve broaden my knowledge on homophones, homonyms and homographs.
I can proudly teach my kids now.
Thank you so much.
I do really appreciate your kind gesture.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I’m glad you enjoyed the Homophones Machine, Sussan! You’re welcome.

Judy Krige

says:

Such a fun way to each this concept

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Thank you, Judy!

Abubakarr Kamara

says:

It awesome, it is really helpful

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I’m glad you found this helpful, Abubakarr!

Karrie

says:

There is so much useful information here! I’m just getting started with this so I appreciate all your helpful tips.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I’m glad to hear you found this helpful, Karrie! But if you ever have any questions or need help, just ask.

Beth C

says:

This is perfect! Just hit a lesson with a couple of kids and this really helps break it down for them. Thank you!

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I’m glad this is helpful for you, Beth!

Grace

says:

Thanks for sharing these!

manasa Bandari

says:

Like it. Brief explanation.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Thank you, Manasa!

Rahila

says:

Excellent way of explaining. Now I understand it better myself, it will be easier to explain to the kids too!

Deborah Bown

says:

This was a great and timely article as my daughter has been encountering homophones in her spelling program. This article gave me many ideas of how to better help her learn these sometimes tricky words.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I’m glad you found this helpful, Deborah! Homophones can be tricky, so I hope these help. If you find you need more help, however, just let me know.

One other tip is often one of a pair of homophones is much more commonly used than the other. For example, we use “be” much more often than “bee.” It can help students to focus on the meaning of the less common word. It’s helpful to know to only use “bee” when meaning a buzzing insect and use “be” for every other meaning.

Sibrina Russell

says:

I stumbled onto your site and am so excited to have these resources to help with my nieces and nephew! <3

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

Great, Sibrina! I hope your nieces and nephew have lots of fun with this.

Kelly

says:

I’m saving these downloads for the next time this comes up in our house!

Kelly

says:

I felt like I was stumbling over trying to explain this to my kids. This is so helpful (and giving me more confidence to just trust the program!).

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I’m glad this was helpful for you, Kelly!

Jeanie Beeson

says:

We haven’t had too much yet.
We are at level 2 referring back to level one as needed.
Very interesting and helpful blog as we move forward.

Charissa Deuser

says:

This looks very cute but with great helpful information

Dorothy Boucher

says:

Thank you for sharing this and very useful for sure.

Wylene

says:

I love how easily you break this information down. Excited for my daughter to get to level 3 so we can dive deeper into understanding homophones.

Jordan

says:

Very useful information. Thank you!

Casey

says:

I was just discussing this with my nieces and had trouble trying to explain it properly. This is a great article.

Robin E.

says: Customer Service

I’m glad this was timely, for you Casey!

Leanna McFarland

says:

Very informative and fun presentation. Thanks!

Lynn Wise

says:

My almost 7 year old thinks homophones are hilarious! Great tips!