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Year 6 · English · Literacy

Homophones

Choosing the correct spelling of words that sound the same but have different meanings, such as 'their', 'there' and 'they're'.

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These lessons were written around Australian Curriculum strands and matched to UK year groups by age (Year 1 is the year a child turns 6 in England). They are not mapped to the National Curriculum in England or the curricula of Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, so check them against your own plans.

Learning goals

Learners will

  • Understand what homophones are.
  • Choose the correct spelling of common homophones using meaning clues.
  • Use memory tricks to remember tricky homophone pairs and groups.

Success looks like

  • I can explain that homophones sound the same but have different meanings and spellings.
  • I can choose correctly between their, there and they're; your and you're; its and it's; and to, too and two.
  • I can check a homophone by expanding contractions or using a memory trick.

The big idea

Homophones are words that sound exactly the same but have different meanings and spellings. 'Hear' and 'here' sound the same, but you hear with your ear and you stand here in a place. Spell-checkers often miss homophone mistakes because both spellings are real words, so you need to know which one fits.

The trick is to use the context – the rest of the sentence – to work out which meaning you need.

  • their = belonging to them ('their dog'). there = a place, or used in 'there is/there are' ('over there'). they're = they are ('they're late').
  • your = belonging to you ('your bag'). you're = you are ('you're kind').
  • its = belonging to it ('the cat licked its paw'). it's = it is or it has ('it's raining').
  • to = towards, or before a verb ('go to school', 'to run'). too = also, or more than enough ('too hot', 'me too'). two = the number 2.

The expanding test: if a word has an apostrophe, try saying the two full words. 'They're going home' becomes 'They are going home' – that makes sense, so 'they're' is right. 'The dog wagged it's tail' becomes 'The dog wagged it is tail' – that makes no sense, so it should be 'its'.

Memory tricks help: 'there' has the word 'here' inside it, and both are about places. 'Hear' has an 'ear' in it. 'Too' has too many o's. A piece of pie; peace means calm. You brake on a bike to stop, but you break a glass.

Worked examples

Choosing their, there or they're

Fill the gap: '___ bringing ___ tennis rackets over ___.'

  1. First gap: try 'they are'. 'They are bringing…' makes sense, so use 'they're'.
  2. Second gap: the bats belong to them, so use the possessive 'their'.
  3. Third gap: it is a place, so use 'there' (it contains 'here').

Answer: 'They're bringing their tennis rackets over there.'

Testing its and it's

Is this sentence correct? 'It's time to give the dog it's dinner.'

  1. Expand the first 'it's': 'It is time…' makes sense, so it is correct.
  2. Expand the second 'it's': 'give the dog it is dinner' makes no sense.
  3. The dinner belongs to the dog, so it should be the possessive 'its' with no apostrophe.

Answer: Not quite. It should be: 'It's time to give the dog its dinner.'

To, too or two

Fill the gaps: 'We walked ___ the shop and bought ___ ice creams, but they melted ___ fast.'

  1. First gap: 'walked towards the shop', so use 'to'.
  2. Second gap: a number of ice creams, so use 'two'.
  3. Third gap: 'more than enough' fast, so use 'too'.

Answer: 'We walked to the shop and bought two ice creams, but they melted too fast.'

Practice check

Have a go, then check your answers. Each answer comes with an explanation.

  1. 1.Choose the correct word: '___ going to the beach tomorrow.'
  2. 2.Choose the correct word: 'The kitten chased ___ tail.'
  3. 3.Fill the gap with to, too or two: 'I ate ___ much cake and felt sick.'
  4. 4.Fill the gap with their, there or they're: 'Please put the boxes over ___.'
  5. 5.Which sentence is correct?
  6. 6.Fill the gap with hear or here: 'Come over ___ and sit down.'
  7. 7.Choose the correct word: 'Squeeze the ___ to stop your bike.'
  8. 8.Which word means 'a part of something': peace or piece?
Answer guide for parents

  1. Choose the correct word: '___ going to the beach tomorrow.'

    They're — 'They are going to the beach' makes sense, so the contraction 'they're' is correct.

  2. Choose the correct word: 'The kitten chased ___ tail.'

    its — The tail belongs to the kitten, so use the possessive 'its'. 'It is tail' makes no sense.

  3. Fill the gap with to, too or two: 'I ate ___ much cake and felt sick.'

    too — 'Too much' means more than enough.

  4. Fill the gap with their, there or they're: 'Please put the boxes over ___.'

    there — 'Over there' is a place, and 'there' contains 'here'.

  5. Which sentence is correct?

    You're welcome to stay. — 'You are welcome to stay' makes sense, so the contraction 'you're' is correct.

  6. Fill the gap with hear or here: 'Come over ___ and sit down.'

    here — It is a place. You hear with your ear.

  7. Choose the correct word: 'Squeeze the ___ to stop your bike.'

    brake — A brake slows or stops a vehicle. To break something is to smash or damage it.

  8. Which word means 'a part of something': peace or piece?

    piece — A piece of pie. Peace means calm or no fighting.

Watch out for

  • Putting an apostrophe in 'its' to show belonging. 'Its' (belonging) never has an apostrophe; 'it's' always means 'it is' or 'it has'.
  • Trusting the spell-checker. Both spellings are real words, so a spell-checker will often not notice the mistake.
  • Using 'to' for every meaning. Learners should check whether they mean 'also' or 'more than enough' (too) or the number (two).

Tips for parents

  • Write homophone pairs on cards and play memory or snap, saying a sentence for each match.
  • When your child writes, ask them to circle every their/there/they're and do the 'expanding test' themselves.
  • Focus on one or two pairs a week rather than all of them at once.

Go further

  • Write a funny short story where a character keeps getting homophones mixed up, then write the corrected version.
  • Collect ten more homophone pairs (such as flour/flower, knight/night, sea/see) and draw a picture to show each meaning.
  • Make up your own memory trick for a pair you find tricky and teach it to someone in your family.

About 40 minutes

Make a lesson planAssign to my child

You'll need

  • Exercise book and pencil
  • Small cards or sticky notes for a homophone matching game
  • Any reading book

Key words

homophone
A word that sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning and usually a different spelling, such as 'hear' and 'here'.
contraction
Two words joined together with an apostrophe showing where letters are missing, such as 'they're' for 'they are'.
possessive
Showing that something belongs to someone, such as 'their bikes' or 'your hat'.
context
The words and sentence around a word that help you work out its meaning.
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