Homonyms
Please note: there are two pages of activities for this lesson.
Activity 1
Show the learners the two example words. Ask them to discuss with a partner how many different meanings they can think of. In the next two slides, show possible solutions.
Next, explain that words with multiple unrelated meanings are called homonyms. Ask learners to identify the word class of the two example words.
Finally, learners need to write down at least two definitions for the list of homonyms. As an extension, learner can try writing pairs of sentences for each word to demonstrate the distinct meanings.
Activity 2
In the next slide, discuss how homonyms can form different word classes. Use the discussion to help learners recall different word classes such as verb, adjective and adverb.
Learners complete a similar activity with the list of nouns, but this time they need to come up with homonyms that belong to a different word class. Ask learners to compare their answers in pairs or small groups. Use the drag-and-drop activity in the next slide to feedback as a whole class.
Verbs ring, watch, fly, bark
Adjective: kind
Adverb: well
Leaners may be able to think of other possible answers.
Finally, learners demonstate their understanding by writing a pair of sentences for each word, using them as both a noun and another word class. Learners compare their responses and check for accuracy.
Activity 3
Ask leaners to consider the word fast: how many different meanings and word classes can they think of?
In the next slide, read the two sentences. Identify which one uses fast as an adverb and which as an adjective. Don't worry if learners are unsure, as they will cover this in the following activities.
Use the drag-and-drop activity to identify which of the similiar sentences belong in each category. This should be much easier because the spelling of the words shows the word class more clearly. Learners can then apply the same pattern to the sentences with fast. Next, ask learners how they can tell the difference, and confirm their ideas with the explanations in the following slide. Ask them to make notes, because these will help with the next activity.
Activity 4
Now, learners should be ready to apply these rules to other examples. Ask learners to read the eight sentences and decide whether the highlighted word is an adjective or adverb. They should use their notes from the previous activity to help. Learners should work individually, and then compare their answers in pairs or small groups, before checking their answers as a whole class.
To consolidate their understanding, ask learners to complete one of the two final tasks and compare with others.
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Homonyms 1
Objective
To identify the different meanings of homonyms of various word classes.
Activity 1
Look at these two words. How many meanings can you think of for each?
- bank
- pupil
- an organization or a building that handles money and provides financial services.
- the land on the side of a river or a lake
- someone who is taught by a teacher
- the small black part of the eye
Words that have more than one unrelated meanings are called homonyms.
What word class do the words bank and pupil belong to?
Here's a list of more homonyms. Write down two distinct meanings for each one.
- bat
- club
- cricket
- page
- palm
- plane
- trunk
Are all the meanings you come up with nouns?
Activity 2
As we have seen, homonyms have more than one unrelated meaning. Furthermore, these two meanings can also belong to different word classes.
Discuss with a partner: what does word class mean? Can you give some examples?
Write down the meaning of each words as a noun. Then, identify what other meanings and word classes each one can have.
- bark
- fly
- kind
- ring
- watch
- well
Match each of the nouns from the previous activity to the other word class it belongs to.
Look again at the list of words:
- bark
- fly
- kind
- ring
- watch
- well
Write two sentences for each word: one using it as a noun, the other as a different word class.
E.g. The bark on the tree is rough. The dog barked loudly.
This lesson is adapted (with permission) from Words and Meanings: A Systematic Guide for the Teaching of English Vocabulary, by Gabriele Stein.
Homonyms 2
Activity 3
This lesson continues our look at homonyms.
Take for example the word fast
How many different meanings and word classes can you think of?
Look at these two sentences:
- Katie works very fast
- Katie is a fast worker.
They have very similar meanings, but in one sentence fast is an adverb and in the other an adjective.
Which sentence uses fast as an adjective and which as an adverb? And, how can you tell?
One way to tell the difference is to substitute fast for another word.
Try putting these four sentences into the correct category. Then look back at the two sentences from before and see if they follow the same pattern.
- Katie works very fast. (Adverb)
- Katie is a fast worker. (Adjective)
How can you tell if a word is being uses as an adjective or adverb?
- Adjectives form part of an expanded noun phrase and modify the noun. They come after any determiner and before a noun
- Remember: adjectives can also come after verbs like be, seem or appear e.g. Katie is fast.
- Adverbs can appear at the beginning, middle or end of a sentence and modify the verb or an adjective.
- Adverbs commonly have an -ly ending. However, some adverbs like 'fast' do not.
Activity 4
Using the rules we discussed, decide whether each of the eight sentences is using the homonym as an adjective or adverb.
Answers
Look back at the homonyms from today's lesson. Choose one of these challenges to complete:
- Write two new sentences for each pair of homonyms, using different word classes each time.
- Write a short story or poem, using pairs of homonyms to humorous effect!
This lesson is adapted (with permission) from Words and Meanings: A Systematic Guide for the Teaching of English Vocabulary, by Gabriele Stein.
Antonymy 1
Activity 1
Explain to learners that antonyms are pairs of words that mean the opposite of each other. This is very common with adjectives. Show the three examples; then ask learners to come up with three more pairs themselves. Check to make sure they are using adjectives.
Next, explain that antonyms can also be nouns. Ask learners to complete the list of five pairs. The solutions are in the next slide, but you can also accept alternatives. Ask if the learners notice any pattern (or lack of pattern) in the list of pairs.
In the next slide, explain that each of these pairs shows two distinct words that don't appear similar to each other, i.e. they are spelled very differently. However, in many cases, antonyms are very similar, and are formed using prefixes. Show the two example words and highlight the prefixes in red. Ask learners to think of any other examples.
Activity 2
Explain that these prefixes are used to show the absence or lack of the original noun, which is usually an abstract noun. Check to make sure learners understand this term and take time to explain if need be. The next activity is a mix-and-match. Have the learners copy the boxes and have a go at matching them individually before checking as a whole class. Drag the cards together to match and double click to separate.
To consolidate, ask learners to write a sentence using each word with a prefix. Compare with a partner and share the best with the whole class.
Activity 3
Explain to learners that there is another type of prefix that expresses opposite in a different way. All the ones they have previously seen simply denote the absence or lack of something. There is another prefix which also means that something is done wrongly or incorrectly. Show the leaerners the three example words and ask if they can add a prefix to change the meaning. Show the answers in the next slide (mis-). Ask learners to write a sentence using each word, using a dictionary if they need help with the meaning.
Next, explain that the same noun can take one or more prefixes, each of which slighly changes the meaning. Give the example of 'appearance' and how each prefix creates a different word and meaning.
Finally, ask learners to look at the two example words. For each one, add two different negative prefixes and write a sentence for each.
disease, unease
disinterest, uninterest
This lesson is adapted (with permission) from Words and Meanings: A Systematic Guide for the Teaching of English Vocabulary, by Gabriele Stein.
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Antonymy 1
Objective
To understand the meaning of antonyms and how they are formed.
Activity 1
In the lesson on synonyms, we saw how words can have similar meanings. They can also be related through opposite meanings. This is very common with adjectives:
- long - short
- old - new
- quick - slow
We call these pairs of words antonyms. Can you think of three other pairs of antonyms?
Nouns can also have antonyms. Complete the list of five pairs:
- beginning -
- top -
- peace -
- absence -
- arrival -
What do you notice about all these pairs of words? Do they have anything in common?
- beginning - end
- top - bottom
- peace - war
- absence - presence
- arrival - departure
In the examples we've seen so far, the pair of antonyms are two distinct words. However, antonyms can also be formed by adding a prefix. For example:
- fairness - unfairness
- satisfcation - dissatisfaction
Can you think of any other similar examples?
Activity 2
These prefixes denote the absence or lack of the original noun, usually an abstract noun.
In the next activity, match the appropriate prefix to the noun. Drag the prefix to the front of the noun card. You can double click them to separate.
Once you've finished, try writing a sentence with each word.
Activity 3
All the prefixes we've just seen denote the absence of something. However, there is another negative prefix that expresses oppositenes, but also that something is done wrongly, improperly or dishonestly.
What prefix can we add to these three words to create this new meaning?
- match
- fortune
- judgement
Write a sentence using each of the words with the mis- prefix.
- mismatch
- misfortune
- misjudgement
Some nouns can take more than one negative prefix with an accompanying change in meaning. For example:
appearance
- disapperance: someone or something vanishes without explanation
- non-appearance: a failure to attend at the expected time
Look at these two nouns. For each one, add two different negative prefixes and write a sentence for each.
- ease
- interest
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Antonymy 2
Activity 1
Explain to learners that they will continue to look at antonyms, but this time by looking at adjectives. Make sure they understand these key terms by discussing the three example pairs.
In the next slide, show the learners the five sentences. Each sentence has a gap which can be filled with an adjective or its antonym. Have learners copy the sentences and fill the gap with two possibilities. Reveal the answers and accept any other reasonable options.
Activity 2
Remind learners that they have already seen how prefixes can be used to form antonyms. Use the two example sentences to explain how the same antonym can be formed in different ways.
Show the learners the four sentences in the next slide. Each sentence has an adjective that can be replaced by an antonym combined with a negative prefix. Ask learners to copy the sentences and think of a word they could use to replace each adjective. Use the 'Adjectives' button to reveal some possible solutions.
Feedback the answers and show the four possible solutions in the next slide.
Activity 3
Move on to the next slide. Explain these patterns that can help learners with the spelling of words with different origins. Have them copy down the rules.
Ask learners to copy down the list of 12 adjectives. For each one, they must add the appropriate prefix to form the antonym, and then write a sentence for both the original and antonym word. Once they've finished, encourage them to share their answers in pairs or small groups and feedback the best answers to the whole class.
This lesson is adapted (with permission) from Words and Meanings: A Systematic Guide for the Teaching of English Vocabulary, by Gabriele Stein.
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Antonymy 2
Objective
To examine how adjective antonyms are formed and used.
Activity 1
Adjectives commonly have opposite words, or antonyms. When we think of an adjective, we often immediately think of its opposite. For example:
- rich - poor
- old - young
- easy - difficult
For each of these five sentences, write down the pair of adjective antoynms that could fill the gap.
- Brian lifted his backpack. It was light/heavy
- The train journey had been very long/short
- His grandfather left him a large/small sum of money.
- The slice of bread was too thick/thin
- The towels in the bathroom were wet/dry
Activity 2
Just like with nouns, adjective antonyms can be formed by using prefixes.
For example, we can write this sentence in two ways:
- He lost the game and felt very sad.
- He lost the game and felt very unhappy.
In the second example, we took the antonym of 'sad' and added the un- prefix.
Read these four sentences. Identify the adjective and replace it with an antonym and a negative prefix to keep the same meaning.
If you need a hint, click the 'Adjectives' button to see a list of possible antonyms.
- That was a very mean remark
- The children can be very naughty in this class
- I thought her speech was boring.
- The substitute teacher is a little naive.
kind, obedient, inspiring, experienced
Here are the sentences with some antonyms with prefixes you could use:
- That was a very unkind remark
- The children can be very disobedient in this class
- I thought her speech was uninspiring.
- The substitute teacher is a little inexperienced.
Activity 3
English uses several different prefixes to form antonyms. Here are some clues that help you know which one to use:
- Un- is used with words of Anglo-Saxon origin, which tend to be shorter, everyday words.
- There are many different prefixes for Latin origin words, which tend to be longer and more specialised.
- Dis- and in- come before vowels, and il-, im- and ir- come before consonants.
Keep these hints in mind in the next activity.
Add the correct prefix to the 12 adjectives. Next, write a sentence using each word.
- visible
- similar
- equal
- legible
- content
- loyal
- animate
- interesting
- aware
- courteous
- partial
- fair
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Antonymy 3
Activity 1
Explain that this lesson will continue to focus on antonyms and prefixes, but this time by looking at verbs.
Check to make sure your learners know the meaning of these key terms. Use the two example sentences to help.
Show the learners the list of six verbs. Ask them to add a prefix to each one to form its antonym. Use the next mix-and-match activity to check answers as a whole class. Bring the cards together to connect and double click to separate.
Show the list of the correct answers on the next slide. Ask learners to write two sentences for each word, one for the original and one for the antonym. Ask learners to share their best sentences with the whole class.
Activity 2
Look again at the list of six verbs. Ask learners if they notice any difference between 1-2 and 3-6. Give your learners time to discuss and share their ideas.
Reveal the answer in the next slide. Explain that different prefixes change the meaning of the original word in different ways. Ask the learners to look at the nex tlist of verbs and to add the right prefix to make them reversative. Check answers on the next slide and ask learners to write pairs of sentence for each word.
Activity 3
Remind learners that they have already looked at the prefix 'mis-' in previous lessons on antonyms. Just like with nouns, we can add this prefix to show that something is done improperly or badly.
Ask learenrs to read the list of six verbs and to add the prefix 'mis-' to each one. Finally, ask learners to write a sentence for each word and its antonym. Share the best sentences with the whole class for feedback.
This lesson is adapted (with permission) from Words and Meanings: A Systematic Guide for the Teaching of English Vocabulary, by Gabriele Stein.
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Antonymy 3
Objective
To examine verb antonyms, and how they are formed and used.
Activity 1
Antonyms are also very common with verbs.
Just like adjectives and nouns, they can be formed by adding a prefix.
1. I tied my shoes.
2. I untied my shoes.
Activity 1
Look at this list of six verbs.
What is the antonym for each one? Which prefix do we use to change it?
- to like
- to agree
- to fasten
- to wrap
- to classify
- to stabilise
Match the appropriate prefix to the verb. Drag the prefix to the front of the verb card. Double click to separate.
Here are the correct prefixes. Write a sentence using the original word and its antonym.
- to dislike
- to disagree
- to unfasten
- to unwrap
- to declassify
- to destabilise
Activity 2
Do you notice any difference in meaning between 1-2 and 3-6?
- to dislike
- to disagree
- to unfasten
- to unwrap
- to declassify
- to destabilise
Not all prefixes change the meaning of the verb in the same way:
Examples 1-2 are negative. The simply mean the opposite of the original verb.
Examples 3-6 are reversative. This means the antonym denotes that the action was reversed or undone.
Here are some more verbs. Choose the right prefix to make them reversative.
- to allow
- to embark
- to tie
- to obey
- to continue
- to do
Here are the correct prefixes. Write a sentence using the original word and its antonym.
- to disallow
- to disembark
- to untie
- to disobey
- to discontinue
- to undo
Activity 3
Like with nouns, we can also use the prefix mis- with verbs.
E.g. to spell - to misspell
This prefix implies oppositeness, but also it also implies something else - what?
The prefix mis- implies that the verb was performed badly or wrongly.
Add the mis- prefix to these six examples, and then write a sentence for the antonym and the original word.
- direct
- hear
- lead
- place
- manage
- apply