Homonyms Questions and Answers

Q: 'Homophones' represent similarly sounding words that have different meaning or spellings. Consider the following sentences involving common homophones. Which of the following sentences involve the correct usage of homophones?1. The bus has been stationery for an hour. I really wanted to go to the stationary shop to buy pencils and pens.2. Principle mam gave a lecture on ethical principals.3. The Himalayas have been radically altared by climate change. Villagers can be seen praying at the alters before the monsoon season.

None of the sentences uses the homophones correctly.1. A bus that has not moved is stationary; pencils and pens are sold at a stationery shop. The sentence swaps them.2. The head of a school is the principal, and ethical rules are principles. The sentence swaps them again.3. The Himalayas have been altered (changed), not 'altared', and villagers pray at altars, not 'alters'.Since every sentence contains at least one wrong homophone, the options naming any of them as correct are wrong.

Q: That makes no ______________!

It is sense.Sense is meaning. Cents are coins, and the two are pronounced identically.

Q: Please ___________ for me outside the cinema.

It is wait.To wait is to stay until someone comes. Weight is heaviness, and the two are pronounced identically.

Q: Every night I like to read __________ to my children.

It is aloud.Aloud means out loud. Allowed is the past tense of allow, and the two are pronounced identically.

Q: Exercise build ___________ and reduces fat.

It is muscle.Muscle is the tissue that exercise builds. A mussel is a shellfish, and the two sound the same.

Q: To give someone a wide _____________ means to stay out of their way.

It is berth.A berth is a ship's mooring place, and to give a wide berth is to keep well clear. Birth is being born, and the two sound the same.

Q: The penthouse ___________ is the most expensive apartment in the building.

It is suite.A suite is a set of rooms, and it is pronounced sweet - from the French, the same word as suit. Sweet is the taste.

Q: I. His views are opposite to mine. II. The speech was aposite to the occasion.

Only sentence I is correct.Opposite means contrary, which is right in the first sentence. The second needs apposite, meaning apt or fitting - and it is spelt aposite there besides. Interchanging the two words would not help, since apposite is not among them.

Q: An Island is a piece of land surrounded by the ___________.

It is sea.The sea is the body of water surrounding an island. To see is to perceive with the eyes, and the two are pronounced alike.

Q: She spent the afternoon pulling out the weeds and ___ in her garden.

It is tares.Tares are weeds, familiar from the parable of the wheat and the tares. Tears, rhyming with airs, are rips; the two are pronounced identically.

11.

'Homophones' represent similarly sounding words that have different meaning or spellings. Consider the following sentences involving common homophones. Which of the following sentences involve the correct usage of homophones?

1. The bus has been stationery for an hour. I really wanted to go to the stationary shop to buy pencils and pens.
2. Principle mam gave a lecture on ethical principals.
3. The Himalayas have been radically altared by climate change. Villagers can be seen praying at the alters before the monsoon season.

A.1 only
B.2 and 3
C.1 and 2 only
D.None

Exam Year(s)

Punjab Civil Service - 2024,

Answer: D

None of the sentences uses the homophones correctly.

1. A bus that has not moved is stationary; pencils and pens are sold at a stationery shop. The sentence swaps them.
2. The head of a school is the principal, and ethical rules are principles. The sentence swaps them again.
3. The Himalayas have been altered (changed), not 'altared', and villagers pray at altars, not 'alters'.

Since every sentence contains at least one wrong homophone, the options naming any of them as correct are wrong.

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12.

That makes no ______________!

A.Cents
B.Sense

Answer: B

It is sense.

Sense is meaning. Cents are coins, and the two are pronounced identically.

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13.

Please ___________ for me outside the cinema.

A.Wait
B.Weight

Answer: A

It is wait.

To wait is to stay until someone comes. Weight is heaviness, and the two are pronounced identically.

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14.

Every night I like to read __________ to my children.

A.Allowed
B.Aloud

Answer: B

It is aloud.

Aloud means out loud. Allowed is the past tense of allow, and the two are pronounced identically.

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15.

Exercise build ___________ and reduces fat.

A.Muscle
B.Mussel

Answer: A

It is muscle.

Muscle is the tissue that exercise builds. A mussel is a shellfish, and the two sound the same.

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16.

To give someone a wide _____________ means to stay out of their way.

A.Berth
B.Birth

Answer: A

It is berth.

A berth is a ship's mooring place, and to give a wide berth is to keep well clear. Birth is being born, and the two sound the same.

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17.

The penthouse ___________ is the most expensive apartment in the building.

A.Suite
B.Sweet

Answer: A

It is suite.

A suite is a set of rooms, and it is pronounced sweet - from the French, the same word as suit. Sweet is the taste.

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18.

I. His views are opposite to mine.
II. The speech was aposite to the occasion.

A.If only sentence I is correct;
B.If only sentence II is correct;
C.If both the sentences I and II are correct;
D.If I as well as II are incorrect, but both could be made correct by interchanging the underlined words;
E.If neither I nor II is correct and the sentence could not be made correct by interchanging underlined words

Answer: A

Only sentence I is correct.

Opposite means contrary, which is right in the first sentence. The second needs apposite, meaning apt or fitting - and it is spelt aposite there besides. Interchanging the two words would not help, since apposite is not among them.

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19.

An Island is a piece of land surrounded by the ___________.