by Lisa Binion
With how many of the following homonyms are you familiar?
carat, caret, carrot, and karat
A carat tells the weight of a precious stone, such as a diamond or sapphire.
Melody’s boyfriend presented her with a 1 carat diamond ring when he proposed marriage to her.
A caret is the mark used by a proofreader to show where something needs to be inserted.
Cecilia's term paper was full of carets when her teacher returned it to her.
A carrot is an orange root vegetable.
Rabbits love to eat carrots.
carol and carrel
A carol is a song, especially a song of joy.
The carol is always sung at Christmas time.
A carrel is a small individual study room or private desk. These
are usually in libraries and are places where a person can read or
study undisturbed.
Tamara asked for a carrel to be built in her own personal library.
carpal and carpel
A carpal is a bone of the wrist.
Because of the long periods of time spent typing on the computer, Taneisha developed carpal tunnel syndrome.
Carpel is a term used in botany. It is a simple pistil or a single member of a compound pistil.
Sylvia had a great deal of trouble learning the definition of carpel for her botany class.
cast and caste
Cast means to throw.
The fishermen were told to cast their nets into the sea.
A caste is a social class.
People in the Hindu society are divided by caste.
caster and castor
A caster is a person or thing that throws.
Joshua was chosen to be the caster of the ball.
Castor is one of the less commonly known names for beaver.
The young castor was separated from its colony.
cause and caws
One of the definitions of cause is a motivation, a reason for doing something.
The cause for her rejoicing was the fantastic news her husband brought home with him.
Caws are the harsh, grating sounds made by crows.
The crows’ voracious caws disrupted the tranquility of the evening.
cay, key, and quay
I really thought this was a mistake, but I checked the pronunciation of
each of the above words. They all are pronounce the same way.
A cay is a small, low island.
There are many cays off the coast of Alaska.
A key is a small metal instrument made to fit into locks and open them.
Darren had a bad habit of losing his house key, so his wife put his new key on a chain for him to wear around his neck.
A quay is a wharf.
The boat pulled up next to the quay.
cedar and seeder
A cedar is an evergreen tree, famous for its fragrant wood.
The drawers of the dresser were made out of cedar wood.
A seeder is one who sows seeds.
Marco managed to be hired on as a seeder at the city’s largest farm.
cede and seed
Cede means to yield.
Jenny did not pass her driving test because she did not cede to the stop sign.
A seed contains the embryo of a plant or vegetable.
Jenny bought some flower seeds for her garden.
ceiling and sealing
A ceiling is the top of a room.
Fred and Liz had trouble deciding if they wanted a smooth or rough ceiling.
Sealing is the homonym of ceiling. When you seal something, you close it securely.
Sealing the envelopes was a thankless job.
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