Homophones
Distinguish and correctly spell common homophones and near-homophones encountered at Y3-4 level (e.g., accept/except, affect/effect, brake/break, grate/great), including using the /eɪ/ sound spelt ei, eigh, or ey
What a learner can do afterwards
- Spell pairs of homophones correctly in context (e.g., 'there/their/they're', 'brake/break', 'grate/great')
- Choose the correct homophone to complete a sentence (e.g., 'The dog wagged its/it's tail')
- Spell words with the /eɪ/ sound as ei, eigh, or ey (e.g., vein, eight, they, neighbour)
The lesson
Homophones are words that sound exactly the same when you say them out loud, but they are spelled differently and mean different things. To pick the right spelling, think about what the word means in that sentence, not how it sounds.
Break means to snap or smash something, like breaking a plate. Brake is the part of a bike or car that slows it down. 'Squeeze the brake so you don't break your bike!'
Grate means to shred food, like grating cheese. Great means wonderful, like a great day. 'She used a grater to grate the great cheese onto her pasta.'
If two spellings sound the same, ask yourself what the sentence is really about. Try swapping in a word you already know well, like 'excellent' instead of 'great', to check you picked the right one.
The long ay sound, like in 'day', can also be spelled ei, eigh, or ey. You hear it in vein, eight, grey, and neighbour. There is no easy rule for which spelling to use, so these words are worth learning by heart.
Homophones sound alike but are spelled differently, so let the meaning of the sentence guide your spelling.
Watch it
Where it sits
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.