LECTURE #2

Homographs
and
Homophones
HOMOGRAPHS
■ refers to two words that have the
same spelling, may or may not
have the same pronunciation and
have different meaning.
EXAMPLES:

BAT – a sports equipment, usually

a stick, used to hit a ball
-- a nocturnal animal; a flying
mammal that rely on
echolocation.
GLASSES – a container used for
drinking
-- an optical instrument
or device that has one or
more lenses designed to
aid viewing.
WAVE – to motion with the hands or
with something held in
them in signal or salute.
-- a moving ridge on the
surface of an open water
(e.g. of the sea)
HOMOPHONES
■ are words that are pronounced
the same but are different in
spelling and meaning
EXAMPLES:

BLUE – color
BLEW - past tense of blow

MADE - past tense of make

MAID - a girl employed to do
domestic work
Quiz #4.1
A. Choose the meaning of the following homographs
1. The singer made a low bow ___ to the audience.
Maria placed a red bow ___ on the birthday gift.
(a) decorative ribbon (rhymes with so)
(b) bend at the waist (rhymes with how)
2. All the students are present ___ today.
The boss will present ___ the award at 10:00.
(a) here (rhymes with pleasant)
(b) give (rhymes with resent)
3. Please close ___ the door.
The boy sat close ___ to his uncle.
(a) near (rhymes with dose)
(b) shut (rhymes with toes)
4. The rope was wound ___ around his ankles.
The soldier received a wound ___ in the battle.
(a) tied around (rhymes with pound)
(b) an injury (rhymes with moon)
5. I don’t know if I will live ___ or die.
Last night I saw the band play live ___ in concert.
(a) to have life (rhymes with give)
(b) in real time performance (rhymes with hive)
B. Choose the appropriate word in each sentence.

1. Can I go to the party (to, too, two)?

2. This is my favorite (pare, pair, pear) of jeans.
3. I (sent, scent, cent) a letter to my aunt in
Vietnam.
4. The children got (bored, board) during the
lecture.
5. Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez like to work in (there,
they’re, their) garden
6. Alec is going to (wear, ware) his work boots
today.
7. Do you think it is going to (rein, rain, reign)
this afternoon?
8. I saw a restaurant just off the (rode, road)
about a mile back.
9. David’s brother is in a (band, banned) which
plays Russian music.
10. Juana wants her socks because her (tows,
toes) are cold.
 LECTURE #3

Word Clines
WORD CLINES
■ the arrangement of words with
similar meaning but with different
strength.
EXAMPLES:

Word cline of TEMPERATURE from

lowest to highest:

Freezing, chilling, cold, cool, tepid,

hot, boiling.
Quiz#4.2
Arrange the following from weakest to strongest.

1.Whisper, say, mumble, talk, speak

2.Small, huge, tiny, big, enormous
3.Fabulous, well done, good, amazing, excellent
4.Happy, cheerful, glad, jolly, joyful
5.Deep, flat, fathomless, shallow, bottomless
ANSWERS:

1.Mumble, whisper, speak, say, talk

2.Tiny, small, big, huge, enormous
3.Good, well done, amazing, fabulous, excellent
4.Happy, glad, joyful, cheerful, jolly
5.Flat, shallow, deep, bottomless, fathomless
Lexical and
Contextual
Clues
LEXICAL CLUES
■ Clues also known as
the dictionary definition
■ is the meaning of the term in common
usage. As its other name implies, this is
the sort of definition one is likely to find
in the dictionary
CONTEXT CLUES
■ are hints to help define a
difficult or unusual word.
 Types of
Context Clues
1. SYNONYMS
■ are words with the same meaning.

Ex.
The young girl was very ALOOF. She
always seems unsociable,
unapproachable and uninterested
2. ANTONYMS
■ are words with opposite meaning.

Ex. We thought that the athletes will

be FAMISHED after the game but,
they were not hungry at all.
3. EXAMPLES
■are commonly found after the
unfamiliar word.

Ex. CELESTIAL BODIES, such as the

moon, the sun and the stars, can be
seen in the sky
4. LOGIC
■ looking at the meaning of the
sentence or the passage. Asking
yourself about the passage will often
lead you to a reasonably accurate
guess about the meaning of the
unfamiliar term.
Ex.
It took two days for the volunteers
to EXTRICATE the little girl from
the bottom of the well
5. REWORDING/EXPLANATION
■ when the author says a word in
another way that is easier to
understand
Ex. RESENTMENT, a feeling of bitterness
and anger, is often felt by people who
are passed over for promotions