step#15: homonyms

homo means same and nym means name. thus homonym simply means same name. in phonetics, it indicates those words which have same spelling, but still have various meanings. for example, the word 'park'. it has two meanings. one is noun (the ground where people go for walk, socialize and have fun). another is verb (to station some vehicle somewhere). thus while meanings vary, the 'name' remains the 'same'.

children often get confused with homonyms. you say, "let's park the car here" and they scream, "I also want to go to the park and play on swings". you say, "hold your pencil in the right way" and they argue, "I am holding the pencil in right hand and not left hand". these are frequent confusions that irk them. they start thinking, "English is so confusing and difficult. I wonder if I will ever understand it"

teaching homonym is one step taken towards minimizing such confusions. when you teach them that many words have same spellings, but have different meanings, they begin to use those words in the various appropriate ways. homonyms are also called homographs.

homonyms may be taught at grade 1 level. some of the homonyms that you may teach your 1st grader are:

1. park
2. right
3. point
4. block
5. lift
6. left
7. palm
8. fly
9. ring
10. tip
11. top
12. sign
13. wave
14. spell
15. box
16. mean
17. bore
18. trunk
19. saw
20. duck
21. roll
22. drop
23. horn
24. sink
25. date
26. ruler
27. seal
28. glasses
29. draw
30. turn
31. light
32. rock
33. bat
34. trip
35. band