Homonyms and Homophones: 20 Traps in SSC and Bank PO Papers

Forty minutes after starting an SSC CGL mock test, Ritika encountered a question she could have got right in her sleep: ‘The ______ of the school spoke about the ______ of honesty’. Ritika knew both ‘principal’ and ‘principle’ very well but got them mixed up, and negative marking did the rest. Homonyms and homophones put a tired mind to the test more than knowledge. Here are twenty such traps to be careful of in SSC and Bank PO examination papers, along with ways to spot them.

Homophones versus Homonyms

Usually, examination guides group together homonyms and homophones without differentiating between them. However, there is a difference. Here is what it is, along with where each kind shows up in examination papers.

Same Sound or Same Spelling?

Homophones differ in terms of spelling as well as meaning but share the same pronunciation. Take fare (train fare) and fair (trade fair), for instance. Homonyms go a step further: they match in both sound and spelling, and only the meaning changes, like the bank you want to join and the banks of the Ganga.

It is common for many guides and SSC questions to use ‘homonym’ as the term that includes both. Thus, the term alone cannot help distinguish a homonym from a homophone in the examination paper.

Where They Appear in the Examination

Usually, SSC tests both kinds of words using a fill-in-the-blank test, wherein you need to choose the appropriate word. You may come across them in spelling, error-spotting and cloze test questions as well.

Homophones and homonyms also come up in Bank PO examinations in the form of word usage questions. The questions use the same word in multiple sentences, and it is your job to identify the sentences in which the word usage is correct. It is another way of testing homonyms, with a homophone trap somewhere inside.

Traps 1 to 10: Homophones from Banking and the News

Need to see some more difficult examples of homophones beyond ‘their’ and ‘there’? Well, look no further. You will find plenty of them in banking and current affairs news. Examination papers often label them homonyms. Strictly speaking, though, they are homophones: each pair sounds alike, but the spellings and meanings are different.

Traps 1 to 5: From the Bank Counter

• Principal or principle?

The principal is the head of your school. In banking, it is also the quantum of a loan or deposit on which interest is calculated. A principle is something that guides you. Honesty must be one of the core principles of our lives.

• Cheque or check?

You pay by cheque and check your balance. The Indian banking system follows the British spelling, as evident in the RBI’s Cheque Truncation System.

• Draft or draught?

A draft is a payment instrument (demand draft) or a rough first version of a letter or an essay, whereas a draught is the chilly air that comes in through the gap at the bottom of the door. The words sound identical; thus, let the rest of the sentence decide.

• Waive or wave?

Waiving something means giving it up. The farmer received a loan waiver. And you must not confuse ‘waiver’ with ‘waver’. The latter means to hesitate. You wave your hand to say goodbye.

• Rein or reign?

The RBI tries to rein in inflation, much as a tonga driver pulls on the reins to slow down the horse. However, monarchs reign. ‘Reign in prices’ and ‘free reign’ are common mistakes. The right forms are ‘rein in prices’ and ‘free rein’.

Traps 6 to 10: From the Front Page

• Assent or ascent?

Once a bill passes Parliament, it becomes law only when it receives the assent of the President. Assent is formal approval. Ascent is a climb, either up a mountain or, on a good day, up the Sensex.

• Council or counsel?

The GST Council is a council, that is, a body of persons, whereas counsel is advice. Counsel can also mean a lawyer, as in ‘senior counsel’. Councillors are members of a council, whereas counsellors give advice on careers and mental health.

• Cite, site or sight?

While writing a research paper, you cite references. You visit the site where a new flyover is coming up. And as the examination date gets closer, do not lose sight of your revision plan.

• Prey or pray?

Phishing scammers prey on unsuspecting account holders. However, you pray in a temple, a mosque, a church or a gurdwara on results day.

• Canvass or canvas?

Politicians canvass for votes. Artists use canvas to paint on. Remember to add the extra ‘s’ when talking about asking for votes.

It may be challenging to remember homonyms and homophones from lists, especially under examination pressure. The words you have used in your sentences, whether oral or written, will stick much longer in your memory. If you want more practice, you can book an English demo class.

Traps 11 to 20: Familiar Words and Double Agents

The second list mixes both kinds of traps. The first five pairs are all homophones – familiar words that the question setter likes revisiting, so pay extra attention to the spellings. The last five words are homonyms, double agents of the language – same spelling but multiple meanings; let the sentence tell you which meaning applies.

Traps 11 to 15: Old-School Favourites

• Stationary or stationery?

The bus standing at the traffic signal is stationary. The store located near your coaching centre stocks stationery; the ‘e’ in stationery denotes envelopes.

• Complement or compliment?

Green chutney complements the samosa. You pay the cook a compliment when you say the food was tasty.

• Led or lead?

The past tense of ‘lead’ (to guide) is ‘led’. Since the metal ‘lead’ sounds like ‘led’, people often make the mistake of using ‘She lead the team last year’.

• Discreet or discrete?

Discreet means being careful or tactful (a discreet enquiry). Discrete means separate (discrete data). In ‘discrete’, the ‘t’ separates the two e’s, which is exactly what the word denotes!

• Bear or bare?

You bear the expense and ask others to bear with you. Bare means uncovered or basic (bare feet, bare minimum). ‘Bare with me’ is wrong!

Traps 16 to 20: Same Spelling, Different MeaningsTraps 16 to 20: Same Spelling, Different Meanings

• Bank: A bank lends money, and rivers have banks. Your friend who always helps you out is a person you can bank on.
• Yield: It can mean to produce or give way. Farmland yields a harvest. A bond yields returns. And sometimes the government yields to pressure. Use ‘produce’ or ‘give way’ in place of ‘yield’ to figure out which meaning it is.
• Novel: It can be both a noun (a novel) and an adjective meaning ‘new’ (a novel approach to financial inclusion). When a question asks you the meaning of ‘novel’ in such a sentence, do not mistake it for fiction.
• Interest: While you may have little interest in economics, you still pay interest on your education loan. See if the sentence refers to curiosity or money.
• Issue: Your bank issues you a chequebook. A magazine brings out a new issue every week. And a traffic jam near the examination centre is an issue.

Before Your Next Mock Test

The words in your examination paper may not be on the list we have compiled for you. But there are two things that will always help you, regardless of what word it is: read the whole sentence and make each of the words your own by using them in sentences about your life.

Read the Whole Sentence First

The easiest way to manage homonyms and homophones is to understand the sentence first and then look at the options. If the sentence talks about the President assenting to a bill, then the right answer will be ‘assent’; if the sentence talks about climbing or ascending, the right word will be ‘ascent’.

Make Each Word Yours

Do not just learn a lot of homophone examples. Use each one in a sentence related to your day, like ‘I deposited a cheque’ or ‘I bought stationery for the test’. The word you relate to your life is less likely to confuse you in the examination hall.

Ritika understood this very well after her mock test. That night, she wrote two sentences based on her life: ‘My school principal taught us mathematics’ and ‘Honesty is my first principle’. Since then, she has never confused the two words. Homonyms and homophones will always be there in SSC and Bank PO examinations, but haste will fetch you more negative marks than a lack of knowledge. For more help with English, visit FastInfo Class.