She had told us to keep the list and refer to it as often as necessary. I know that I used several of them throughout the semester in my creative writing and other essays, and I believe that this was the teacher's intention. I think that this exercise did help us develop our mental database of synonyms, though. We weren't allowed to look online or refer to any books.įor some words, thinking of their synonyms is easy. It's helpful to know any homonyms to a word that you're learning in order to avoid word mix-ups in the future.In my first college literature class, we had to make lists of synonyms using only our brains. Homonyms are often confused with homophones, which have the same pronunciation but are spelled differently, and homographs, which are pronounced differently but are spelled the same. watch - a wearable timepiece (such as a wrist watch) or to look at something (such as watching television).trip - to stumble or fall (such as tripping on a curb) or a vacation (such as a summer trip).fire - a flaming blaze (such as a forest fire) or to terminate someone from a job (such as firing an employee).bear - a hibernating animal (such as a grizzly bear) or to carry something (such as bearing children).bat - an implement used to hit a ball (such as a baseball bat) or a nocturnal flying mammal (such as a fruit bat).Many puns are inspired by homonym mix-ups!

Because these words sound and look the same but mean something different, they can be a source of entertainment, confusion or even inspiration. Homonyms are words that have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings.

What is a synonym for