MiniPod: Homonyms | Bad English Made Better

The word 'bat' is spelled the same but holds different meanings. The 'bat' depicted in the left photo is utilised in the sport of cricket to strike the ball, while the right photo 'bat' refers to a mammal capable of flight, typically dwelling in caves. Source: Getty

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Learn English words that sound and/or look the same but have different meanings. The 'Bad English Made Better' minipods are short and simple English grammar lessons.

Learning Highlights:

Homonym means words that sound or are spelled the same.
There are two types of homonyms, the homophone means words that sound the same and homograph means words that are spelled the same.
This lesson is designed for intermediate (or medium) level learners.

Transcript:

(Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript.)

Hi everyone, and welcome to the BAD ENGLISH MADE BETTER podcast.

I’m your host and teacher, Ai-Lin, and each week, we bring you a different lesson to help us make BAD ENGLISH BETTER. It's meant for intermediate (or medium) level learners.

EPISODE 4: HOMONYMS

In this episode, we’re going to look at words that sound the same but have different meanings...

Then, we’re going to move on to words that look the same but have different meanings…

And, just to prove how bad English really is, we’ll tackle words that look and sound the same but have different meanings.

If you’re already confused, stay with me… as I try to explain all about homophones, homographs and homonyms.

Trust me, I’m an English teacher.

First, let’s look at these terms… homophone, homograph, homonym

All three words have the prefix homo, which means ‘same’.

It’s the endings of these three words that give us the clues to how they are different…

‘phone’ means “sound”, so homophone means words that sound the same
‘graph’ means “written”, so homograph means words that are spelled the same
and… ‘nym’ means “name”, so homonym means words that sound or are spelled the same.

So, homophones and homographs are two types of homonyms.

The best way to explain these words is with examples.

Let’s start with Homophones …

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings.

See if you can spot the example in this sentence… listen out for the two words that sound the same…I ate eight apples for breakfast

I ate eight apples for breakfast

(Not wise, I know.)

The first 'ate' is spelled a-t-e and is the past tense of eat. The second eight is spelled e-i-g-h-t and is a number. So, in this case, ate and eight sound the same but have different spellings.

Listen to this sentence… Do you know the spelling and different meanings of the two words that sound the same?

I knew that it was a new dress!

The first k-n-e-w is the past tense of know.

The second n-e-w means the dress was recently purchased.

So, as I promised, sometimes homophones have the same spelling…

Here’s an example… again, listen for the two words that sound the same…

He accidentally hit a bat with his cricket bat.

In this case, the word ‘bat’ is spelled the same, but the first ‘bat’ is a mammal that flies and usually lives in caves… while the second ‘bat’ used in the sport, cricket (you might have heard of cricket?) is used to hit the ball.

So, Homophones are words that sound the same regardless of their spelling but have different meanings.

Next, let’s move on to Homographs …

Homographs are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings.

In the example from before, ‘bat’ can also be a homograph, as it is spelled the same, but it has different meanings. The animal ‘bat’ and the cricket ‘bat’ have the same sound or pronunciation.Let’s check out another example… listen for two words that sound the same and are spelled the same…

Let’s check out another example… listen for two words that sound the same and are spelled the same…

I was told to park my car on the west side of the park

In this case, “park” is spelled the same way, p-a-r-k, but the first park is the verb, and the second park is a place.

Here’s another one…

Listen to this sentence closely. It has two words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciations, so a different sound…

There was a row in the front row of the theatre

Could you find the homograph? That’s right, it's the one spelled r-o-w.

But, hang on, they’re both spelled r-o-w.

Yes, you’re right. Let’s hear it again…

There was a row in the front row of the theatre.

The first one, “row”, means a serious dispute or a loud noise… while the second one “row”, means things in a straight line. In this case, the front row refers to a row of seats.

Okay, another little test. (Tests can be fun, can’t they?!)

If I spell out the following homographs, see if you can pick the different pronunciations or work out the sounds of them. You might even want to hit the PAUSE button and grab a pen.

I’ll give you three examples

m-i-n-u-t-e - sound it out, see if you can guess?
b-a-s-s
c-l-o-s-e

Time’s up. So, did you get…

minute - the noun meaning “60 seconds”, versus…
minute - the adjective meaning “very small”
bass - the fish versus bass, the musical instrument… and…
close - the adjective meaning “nearby” versus close - the verb - meaning “to shut.”

Finally, to recap… homonyms.

Well, as the definition suggests, homonym means words that sound the same (you told me that was homophone) or are spelled the same (yeah, but you told me that was a homograph).I did, but it can also mean words that sound and are spelled the same but have different meanings.

I did, but it can also mean words that sound and are spelled the same but have different meanings.

I didn’t sign up for this!

To put it simply, homonyms can be homophones or homographs or both.

English… it’s the worst!!

That’s it… I give up.

…Don’t worry, they’ll be back. Thanks for listening to BAD ENGLISH MADE BETTER.

I’m your host and teacher, Ai-Lin Bhugun. Catch you next time.