Upgrade to Homophones, Homonyms and Heteronyms 

Upgrade to Homophones, Homonyms and Heteronyms 

The original Spelling Force contained 220 homophones, no homonyms, and no heteronyms. The new online version now has 220 homophones, 370 homonyms and 90 heteronyms for a total of 680 words. This collection is by far the most comprehensive listing of words that sound the same but have different meanings that we have encountered in any online learning programme. Paper based systems typically have even fewer.  

Change in design to give greater flexibility 

The programming structure of the original CD version did not allow for two words with the same spellings and different meanings to be incorporated. The new online version allows for multiple instances of the words with the same spelling but different meanings to be incorporated. For example, we can have four meanings of the word compound with sentences to illustrate: 

• Water is a compound made of oxygen and hydrogen. 

• Savings grow faster with compound interest. 

• The animals lived in a large compound with lots of shade. 

• Two words joined together makes one compound word. 

Definitions 

Usage of words like “homonym” can differ slightly from place to place, but we have tried to differentiate: 

Homophones: Words which sound the same but are spelled differently. 

Homonyms: Words which are spelled the same and are pronounced the same but have more than one common meaning.  We have sought to include words that have two distinct (unrelated) meanings in common usage for school-aged vocabulary.  There are a few words with three such meanings. 

Heteronyms: Words which are spelled the same but are pronounced differently for different meanings.  For example, “bass” the fish and “bass” the instrument are heteronyms.  Pronunciation can vary widely, so we have tried to only include examples where a pronunciation difference is widespread.  

Spelling Force examples in each category – word and context sentence 

Simple homophones  

son	My Mum has one son and two daughters.
sun	The sun is hot.
some	Would you like some chocolate cake?
sum	The sum of two plus two is four.
too	It was too dark for us to see clearly.
two	I have two ears but only one nose.
sea	We like to go fishing in the sea.
see	I went to the zoo to see the lions and tigers.
it’s	“it’s” is a short way of saying “it is” or “it has”.
its	The bear looked into its cave and growled.

Higher level homophones 

desert	The desert was hot and dry.
dessert	After dinner we had chocolate ice cream for dessert.
boarder	Mike is a boarder at school and only goes home for the holidays.
border	That is a lovely border you have drawn around your page.
currant	A currant is a small dried grape.
current	A strong current pulled our boat along.
meddle	It is not polite to meddle with other people’s things.
medal	The winners each received a medal for their sporting efforts.
straight	Her hair was not curly, it was straight.
strait	The boats sailed through the strait to get to the open sea.

Simple homonyms

bill	Mum asked for the bill after lunch.
bill	A duck has a bill, not a beak.
can	She put the empty can in the bin.
can	I can run.
bat	I hit the ball with my bat.
bat	We saw a bat fly near the cave.
fan	I use a fan to keep me cool.
fan	I am a huge fan of cats.
bit	Baby Tim bit the toy.
bit	I had a bit of ham.

Higher level homonyms 

sole	The sole of my shoe left a mark in the mud.
sole	We ordered sole at the seafood café.
sole	The island has a sole resident.
conduct	During practice, Kate would conduct the choir.
conduct	Metals conduct electricity well.
conduct	A priest was asked to conduct the service.
coordinate	A coordinate is used to mark the position of something.
coordinate	The team met to coordinate the school fair.
converse	The quiet park was the converse of the crowded plaza.
converse	They sat for a long time to converse about the project.

Simple heteronyms 

bow	The sole of my shoe left a mark in the mud.
bow	We ordered sole at the seafood café.
close	The island has a sole resident.
close	During practice, Kate would conduct the choir.
house	Metals conduct electricity well.
house	A priest was asked to conduct the service.
use	You may use my tools if you need them.
use	It’s no use.
present	The mayor is here to present the medal.
present	It is raining at present.

Higher level heteronyms 

escort	The king arrived with a security escort.
escort	Kate was happy to escort her grandmother across the road.
elaborate	Tim made an elaborate table decoration.
elaborate	Kate used her talk to elaborate upon the idea.
associate	Many people associate chocolate with positive feelings.
associate	I was a close friend and associate of the company director.
appropriate	His remarks were thoughtful and appropriate to the occasion.
appropriate	The council wanted to appropriate the land for a new road.
duplicate	Please duplicate this letter so that I have ten copies.
duplicate	I had a duplicate key made for emergencies.