UBI 3 Unit 4 - Words with Multiple Meanings

Antes de empezar: esto lo explicamos en español

En Internet hay bastante confusión con estos términos. Por eso, en esta unidad vamos a usar una explicación simple y práctica, para entender los ejemplos sin liarnos con demasiada teoría.

• Homophones: suenan igual, pero se escriben diferente.
• Homographs: se escriben igual.
• Homonyms: una misma palabra puede tener significados diferentes.

Lo importante aquí no es memorizar nombres raros, sino ver el patrón y mejorar el vocabulario.

🔤 WORDS THAT SOUND OR LOOK THE SAME

In English, some words sound the same, some words look the same, and some words can have more than one meaning.

Goal

Not to memorize difficult names, but to recognise patterns and understand why some English words are tricky.

🧠 Understanding the types (simple visual guide)

WORDS THAT CAN BE CONFUSING

👂  Same sound

HOMOPHONES
Same pronunciation, different spelling

see / sea
two / too

👀  Same spelling

HOMOGRAPHS
Same spelling

bank (money / river)
read (present / past)

🧠 Different meanings

HOMONYMS
One word can have different meanings

bat (animal / sports object)
match (game / fire stick)

👉 Focus on the idea: sound, spelling or meaning.

🧭 THE BIG PICTURE: A comparison chart.

Type	Same sound?	Same spelling?	Example
Homophone	Yes	No	sea / see
Homograph	Not always	Yes	read
Homonym	Sometimes	Sometimes	bat

Different books use these labels in slightly different ways. Here we are using them in a practical and simple way.

🔊 1) HOMOPHONES

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

🎥 Videos

In these videos, you can see and hear some common homophones in English. Watch carefully and try to identify words that sound the same but have different meanings.

 📊 Examples

👉Here you have some examples of homophones.

📂 Open chart

Word 1	Word 2	Meaning
way	weigh	direction / measure weight
stair	stare	steps / look fixedly
flower	flour	plant / ingredient for baking
bored	board	feeling tired / wooden piece
one	won	number / past of win
hair	hare	body hair / rabbit
son	sun	male child / star
eight	ate	number / past of eat
deer	dear	animal / loved person
eye	I	body part / pronoun
feat	feet	achievement / plural of foot
forth	fourth	forward / ordinal number
hear	here	listen / in this place
hole	whole	opening / complete
groan	grown	sound of pain / past of grow
knight	night	warrior / time of day
mail	male	post / man
sew	so	make clothes / connector
waist	waste	body part / rubbish
write	right	use a pen / correct

📝 Practice

1- Choose the correct word

1. I can hear / here a strange noise.
2. The sun / son is shining today.
3. She ate / eight a sandwich for lunch.
4. This cake needs flour / flower.
5. He has long hair / hare.
6. Turn right / write at the corner.
7. The knight / night rode his horse.
8. Don’t throw your waste / waist on the floor.

✅ Answer Key

• hear
• sun
• ate
• flour
• hair
• right
• knight
• waste

QUIZ TIME - HOMOPHONES
Can you pass these quizzes?:

 

📄 Worksheet

Finally, here is a worksheet to check what you know about homophones.

REVIEW GAMES - HOMOPHONES
Let’s check our learning with these games:

 

🎮 Play Kahoot #1 🏠 Juega en casa #1 👾 Play Kahoot #2 🏠 Juega en casa #2

👀 2) HOMOGRAPHS

Homographs are words that are written the same way. They can have different meanings, and sometimes they can also be pronounced differently.

🎥 Videos

In the first video, you can see and hear what is a homograph in English. In the second one, you can learn the difference between a homoPHONE and a homoGRAPH.

 📊 Examples

👉Here you have some examples of homographs.

📂 Open chart

Word	Meaning 1	Meaning 2
quarter	15 minutes	25-cent coin
bat	animal	sports object
bank	money place	river side
bar	place to drink	piece of chocolate
desert	dry place	to abandon
left	direction	past of leave
bass	musical instrument	fish
can	ability	container
letter	message	alphabet symbol
live	to have your home somewhere	not recorded
minute	60 seconds	very small
novel	book	new/original
right	correct	direction
ring	jewellery	to phone someone
capital	main city	capital letters
chest	body part	medicine cabinet/box
sign	indication	to write your name
tie	to fasten with laces or string	clothing
watch	to look at	wristwatch
firm	company	not soft
fly	insect	move in the air
tear	to rip/break	cry drop
commune	community where people live	to connect deeply
fall	season	to drop

📝 Practice

1- Choose the correct meaning

1. I went to the bank.→ Does it mean “money place” or “river side”?
2. The bat is flying at night.→ Does it mean “animal” or “sports object”?
3. I will watch TV.→ Does it mean “look at” or “clock”?
4. This is the capital of Spain.→ Does it mean “city” or “big letters”?
5. She gave me a ring.→ Does it mean “jewellery” or “telephone sound”?
6. The fly is on the wall.→ Does it mean “insect” or “move in the air”?
7. I read a novel.→ Does it mean “book” or “new/original”?
8. Be careful not to fall.→ Does it mean “season” or “to drop”?

✅ Answer Key

• bank = money place
• bat = animal
• watch = look at
• capital = city
• ring = jewellery
• fly = insect
• novel = book
• fall = to drop

FUNNY SONG - HOMOGRAPHS
Listen to this parody:

What is the song about?

This song is a parody about homographs: words that are written the same, but have different meanings. Sometimes they are also pronounced differently.

In the song, the funny part is that the singer plays with words like bear, pet, close, mean and back. The words look the same, but the meaning changes depending on the sentence.

Words from the song

Word	Meaning 1	Meaning 2
bear	a large animal	to tolerate something
pet	an animal you keep at home	to touch an animal gently
close	to shut something	near
mean	unkind	to have a meaning
back	part of the body	return

Listen carefully

In the chorus, the song explains the main idea:

The letters do not change, but the meaning does.

This is why homographs can be confusing: they look the same, but they are not always the same word in meaning.

📝 Practice

2- Read the sentences and choose the correct meaning.

1. I saw a bear in the forest. → animal / tolerate
2. I cannot bear this noise. → animal / tolerate
3. Please close the door. → near / shut
4. The school is close to my house. → near / shut
5. What does this word mean? → unkind / have a meaning
6. Don’t be mean to your friend. → unkind / have a meaning

Answer key

1. bear = animal
2. bear = tolerate
3. close = shut
4. close = near
5. mean = have a meaning
6. mean = unkind

QUIZ TIME - HOMOGRAPHS
Can you pass these quizzes?

 

📄 Worksheet

Finally, here is a worksheet to check what you know about homographs.

REVIEW GAMES - HOMOGRAPHS
Let’s check our learning with these games:

🎮 Play Kahoot #1 🏠 Juega en casa #1
👾 Play Kahoot #2 🏠 Juega en casa #2

🧠 3) HOMONYMS

Homonyms are words that can have different meanings.

Word	Meaning 1	Meaning 2
bat	animal	sports object
match	sports game	small stick for fire
light	lamp / brightness	not heavy
bank	place for money	side of a river

🧠 Activities (Homonyms)

1. In “The bat is flying”, what does bat mean?
2. In “I left my money in the bank”, what does bank mean?

✅ Answer Key (Homonyms)

• the animal
• the place for money

📚 4) MINI DICTIONARY

• sound – what we hear
• spelling – the way a word is written
• meaning – what a word means
• pronunciation – the way we say a word
• homophone – same sound, different spelling
• homograph – same spelling
• homonym – one word with different meanings

🧩 5) FINAL REVIEW

1. sea / see are…
2. read in present and past is a…
3. bat with two meanings is a…
4. right / write are…

✅ Final Answer Key

• homophones
• homograph
• homonym
• homophones

🎯 The important thing is not the labels themselves, but noticing the pattern. That will help you read more carefully, listen better, and make fewer mistakes.

We’ll keep practising with examples, games and short activities in class. See you in the next unit ✨