Homonyms Activity Pack

How can I use this Homonyms Activity Pack?

This activity pack has six different resources inside to make teaching homonyms that bit easier for you!

Included in this pack:

• List of homonyms display poster
• Homonyms matching cards activity
• Set of homonyms display posters
• Homonyms draw and write activity sheet
• Homonyms word mats
• Homonyms differentiated activity sheets. 

The homonym posters are perfect for working walls and displays that the children can use for guidance in their writing. The set of homonym display posters shows a homonym and then two pictures that illustrate the shared meaning of the word ("bark" shown with a barking dog and a tree bark, for example). 

The homonyms matching cards are a collection of 44 pairs of homonyms, and pictures to match each word, separated and ready to be mixed up and matched together again. Similarly, the homonyms word mats are a collection of 40 homonyms, but without the pictures. Can your class think of (at least) two examples for each word?

Challenge your class to think of their own examples using the homonyms draw and write activity sheet! Each sheet has four squares to draw in, and all each child has to do is write their homonym above, draw two pictures to illustrate its different meanings and write a sentence for each to show they understand how to use each word. 

Finally, the homonyms differentiated activity sheets allow children to use homonyms in sentences, with scaffolding to each level of differentiation to make the challenge easier to access across the classroom. 

What other resources can I use to teach homonyms?

This Homonyms Memory Match is a fun way to get your children about their SPaG! Try it as a memory game, with each word and picture combo turned over, or a simple game of snap!

We also have this colourful Summer Homonyms Activity, which is great for children to use as part of home learning.

We also have plenty of resources on homographs and homophones, which are great areas to look at before, after or even at the same time as homonyms. 

Our Choose the Correct Homograph PowerPoint is a fun and interactive way to introduce or review homographs. Do the same for homophones with this KS2 Homophones Warm-Up PowerPoint.

For more on homonyms, check our Homonym Teaching Wiki.

What is a homonym?

To know what a homonym is, it's helpful to know what homophones and homographs are. A homonym can be either a homophone or a homograph, or both at the same time. 

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

Homographs are words with the same spelling, but with a different meaning or pronunciation. 

They all come from the Greek: the prefix "homo" means same; "phonos" refers to sound; "graphein" for spelling; "onyma" means name.