LA - Double Meanings Lesson

 

Double Meanings

Whenever reading an SAT passage, be careful of words with double meanings. These words are commonly known as homonyms or homophones. A word that sounds exactly the same as another word can have a completely different meaning. For example, it is much different to wait on someone who is late for a date than to measure someone's weight on a scale. Pay attention to how words are used in a sentence. For example, if you are given a sentence with a missing adjective, then your answer has to be an adjective. Examine the answer choices and ensure that the best choice fits with the missing part of speech in the given sentence.

There are many words in the English language that can be used as a noun in one instance and an adjective in another. Think about the word forte. Students with a musical background know that forte means loud. In this case, it is an adjective. It's describing the volume of the music.

Example:  The music teacher begged her students to play the chorus forte because it was the focus of the entire song.

However, forte  can also be a noun.

I don't know what her forte  is, but it is definitely not music.

In this example, forte  means a person's strong suit or most highly developed characteristic.

It is very important that students understand that the same word can be used as different parts of speech. When that happens, the meaning of the word will change. It is not only necessary to know the definitions and meanings of words but also HOW they are being used in the sentence.

Homonyms can present an especially difficult problem for students because they sound alike, but the different spellings can mean different things. Changing one letter in a word could alter the whole meaning of a sentence. Knowing which word or phrase to use or how to write a phrase correctly can make a big difference in your writing.

Writing: Frequently confused words Harder example : Watch Sal work through a harder grammar item testing frequently confused words.

 

Commonly Confused Words

Look at the following homonyms and the way they are used in the examples provided.

 

 IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS OR OPENSOURCE