Thursday, 28 July 2016

Use of Homophones

Target Audience: First Year Polytechnic English teachers and students in Tamilnadu.
Subject: Communication English-1, M scheme, I semester

Objective: To enable the students recognize and use words with same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings.Question pattern in Exam: I.3. Fill in the blanks with the suitable word from the homophones given in brackets.(3 marks).

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What do you mean by homophones?
Words which are pronounced with same sound but have different spellings and meanings are called homophones.  For instance, the words peace and piece are pronounced with same sound as /piːs/ but both differ in meaning : the first word refers to a state of tranquility whereas the second one stands for 'a part of the whole'. Look at the spelling - both have different spelling.

In the exam, three sentences with blanks will be given and you should choose the suitable homophone from those given in brackets.  As per guideline for setting question paper, the words may be taken from textbook since it is a vocabulary based question.  Students should learn the meaning of given homophones in textbook and practise to use them in sentences. The homophones in textbook are given below with meanings for your ready reference:

1. Be - to exist, to remain
    Bee- an insect gathering nectar

2. Blue - one of the colours
    Blew- past form of the verb blow

3. Board - a flat piece of wood, etc
    Bored - uninterested

4. Cell -  a prison, battery cell
    Sell -   to offer for sale

5. Die - to stop living
    Dye - to colour a cloth, hair, etc.

6. Days - during day time
    Daze- to dazzle

7.  Foul - unclean
     Fowl -  bird

8. Fair - pleasing appearance
    Fare - money paid for travel

9. Fore-  before, former
    Four - number next to three
    For - a preposition pointing duration,etc.

10. Great - super, superior
       Grate - pleasing, gratifying, agreeable
     
11. Heel - a portion of foot behind ankle
       Heal - cure
      He'll - short form of he will

12. Hear - to notice a sound with ear
      Here - in this place

13. Hour - a period of 60 minutes
      Our  - belonging to us

14. I - the speaker, ego
      Eye - an organ to see

15. Eight - number next to seven
      Ate - past form of the verb eat

16. Knight - a medieval soldier
       Night -  Night time

17. Knot - a looping of rope, etc.
       Not. - no

18. Key - object for opening a lock
      Quay - structure to load/unload ships

19. Loan - money lent
      Lone - isolated, without companion

20. Or - otherwise
      Awe - a feeling of fear and respect

21. One - first number
      Won - past form of the verb win

22. Pause - stop
      Paws - foot of an animal

23. Peal - loud sound
       Peel - to remove the skin of banana, etc.

24. Peace - free from war, being quiet
      Piece - a part of the whole

25. Quiet - being silent
       Quite - completely

26. Rows - a line of objects, etc.
       Rose - a fragrant flower

27. Rain - water from cloud
      Reign - to rule

28.  So - therefore
       Sew - to stitch
      Sow - to scatter seeds for growing

29. Stair - a step in staircase
       Stare - to look fixedly

30. Seem - appear, look like
      Seam - a folded fabric

31. Sail - to begin a sea travel
      Sale - selling, exchange goods for money

32. See - look
      Sea - a large body of salt water

33. Source - origin/ root of something
       Sauce - substance served with food

34. Sun - a star that our earth revolves
      Son - male offspring

35. Sunday - a day next to Saturday
      Sundae - a dish of ice cream with fruits

36. Serial - TV serial, produced in series
      Cereal- grains such as wheat and corn

37. Seen - past participle of the verb see
       Scene- something seen by a viewer

38. Tale - story
      Tail - the appendage of animal

39.  Two - the second number
        To - preposition, in the direction of
        Too- also

40. waste - to use carelessly
       Waist - body part between ribs and hips

41. Way - path, road
      Weigh - to measure the weight

42.  Weather - atmosphere at given time
        Whether - conjunction showing alternative

43. Plain - without pattern, just one colour
      Plane - a flat surface, aeroplane

44. Hi - an informal greeting
      High - above, elevated position

45. Their - belonging to them
       There - in that place
        They're- short form of they are

46. Pail - a bucket
      Pale - light in colour, bloodless

47. Right - correct, right side
      Rite - a religious custom

48. Male - pointing masculine gender
      Mail- letter, to send

49. Through - by means of
       Threw - past form of throw

50. Weight - being heavy
       Wait - to delay for someone

51. Tied - fastened
       Tide - sea wave

52. Herd - collection of animals
      Heard- past tense of hear

53. Read - past tense of read
       Red -a colour as in stop signal

54. Road - a path for vehicles
       Rode- past tense of ride

55. Rote-  memorize without understanding
       Wrote- past tense of write

Exercises for you:

 Fill in the blanks with the suitable word from the homophones given in brackets.

1. His face was looking _________ (pale / pail) and he was completely upset.
2. The __________ (foul / fowl) was so beautiful with pink and yellow colours.
3. He doesn't believe in the _________ (rite / write) performed by his orthodox family.
4. Students submitted ___________ (their / there) assignments two days in advance.
5. Children enjoyed the _________ (tail / tale) told by the grandma.
6. To __________ (sale / sail) on a boat is a matter of pleasure for everyone.
7. He left his purse at home and was unable to pay the _________ (fair / fare).
8. She ________ (tied / tide) the animal to the nearby post and rested for sometime.
9. I don't know__________  (weather / whether) he will come or not.
10. The old lady would always ________ (stair / stare) at the particular picture for a long time.





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