Teaching homophones
Aim: Choose the right spelling of a homophone from its meaning.
How to explain it
Homophones sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things, so the sound alone can't tell you the spelling. Link each spelling to a meaning clue: you hear with your ear, and 'hear' has 'ear' in it; 'there' has 'here' in it, and both are places; 'their' means belonging to them, and has the word 'heir' (someone who inherits things) inside it. Always spell a homophone from its sentence, never on its own.
Starter (5 minutes)
Say a sentence with a homophone missing ('I can ___ the sea'). Children hold up the spelling that fits and explain the clue that told them.
Main activity
Homophone pairs match: children match each spelling to a picture or meaning, then write a sentence for each one. Pairs swap sentences and check each other's choices using the clues.
Dictation sentences
- Their dog is over there.
- I can hear the sea from here.
- We need two more, and you can come too.
Watch out for
- Choosing by sound instead of meaning (there for their).
- Learning the words on their own rather than in a sentence.
Quick check
Ask children to spell these without help:
- blew
- won
- wear
- which
Example words
- there
- their
- they're
- to
- too
- two
- here
- hear
- see
- sea
- where
- wear
- one
- won
- practice
- practise