What Does It Mean?

HOMONYMS are words that sound alike but have different meanings and often have different spellings. HOMOGRAPHS are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. SYNONYMS are words or phrases that means nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language. ANTONYMS are words that have an opposite meaning to another.

Rain and Reign are homonyms: Use the umbrella, it’s going to rain. There was an uprising during the king’s reign.

Read and Read are homographs. I will read your book. I read every line of the contract before signing it.

Buy and Purchase are synonyms. We have to buy school supplies soon. I want to purchase a new pair of slacks.

Good and Bad are antonyms. The acting was really good. The grapes shriveled and went bad.

Words can be confusing and we often get tripped up by similar sounding words or meanings. As writers we want to communicate thoughts to our readers, and by communicating I mean getting the right message across. Using different words, when it is the proper use, also helps to keep the monotony out of our prose which will often help keep the reader more interested. 

Writing Exercise: Pick out the pairs in the following lines
        1)  Synonyms:  certain, shiny, sick, misaligned, ill, right
        2)  Antonyms:  cool, laugh, barter, hot, dark, cry
        3)  Homonyms: made, want, knead, knight, need, have
Choose the correct word in each sentence:
        1) We need to replace the broken (pane, pain) of glass.
        2) There are (too, two) many people in the room.
        3) She (dyed, died) her hair blonde.
        4) They placed a (lay, lei) of flowers around her neck.
        5) They (read, red) the (tale, tail) of the Tortoise and the (Hair, Hare)

Writing Prompt: Make a list of words you know you commonly confuse (be honest).

Challenge Assignment:  a short newspaper article and rewrite it using as many opposites as you can (and still let it make sense), such as “She had a rapid slow heartbeat.”