The other day as my husband and I were returning through the park just on the other side of our neighborhood we saw a young lady calling, “Here, Bud!”

She was banging on the metal railing that leads to a bridge,which crosses over our neighborhood creek. We figured she was calling for some type of animal to respond to her melodious voice.

“You haven’t seen a cat have you?” she asked us as she turned with a popsicle stick full of goo in her hand. “You can’t miss him. He has one ear, is missing a tail, and he has a big hole in the side of his face. I am trying to give him his medicine.”

Huh?! Dale and I looked at each other and couldn’t believe what we had just heard. We didn’t even ask what color Bud was; I don’t think we would have needed to based upon the description of his unique physical characteristics.

“No, but we will be sure and let you know if we see him,” we responded.

As we walked away Dale looked at me and said, “Of all the things I thought I might hear today, I didn’t expect to hear a tale of a cat with a missing tail [and half of a face].” I didn’t either for that matter.

I didn’t think I’d find a picture of a one-eared cat, but you’d be surprised that there were several on the internet. This cutie is called Moose (courtesy of Pet Haven in Minnesota).

I am sure you caught the clever use of homophones I used in my unusual encounter. 🙂 What is the precise definition of a homophone?  1 : one of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling (as the words to, too, and two)  courtesy of http://www.Webster.com

Why not have your children write a story using homophones? Perhaps writing a story is a bit of a stretch, what about sentences? For instance, how much hair does a hare have ?  or I just don’t think it is fair that we have to pay an exorbitant fare.  Did you know there is a children’s book that has all kinds of plays-on-words?  It is called The Phantom Tollbooth. Here is an example of a homophone from the book: “for after all it’s more important to know whether there will be weather than what the weather will be.”

I have created some homophone worksheets for your student to practice. Homophone worksheet 1  Homophone worksheet 2

Would you like to create your own worksheets? This Homophones List has a compilation of 2000 words that can be downloaded if you like.

This is an online game with pictures to practice more homophones. click here

Now that you are on your way with homophones, why not work on synonyms? No, not cinnamon! I have a blog post that will help you. click here