Vocabulary for TOEFL iBT

62 VOCABULARY FOR TOEFL iBT

A specific type of homonyms are called homographs —words that look alike but

that sound different and mean different things. Notice that the different sound in

these words can come from the accent, or stress, on one part of the word. For exam-

ple, conduct has two distinct meanings and pronunciations:

➥ kun-DUKT (v) means to lead or direct. I will conduct the orchestra for the

last song.

➥ KON-dukt (n) means behavior. His conduct in school was terrible.

Another type of homonyms are pronounced the same way, but have different

spellings and meanings. The term for these words, homophone , is exactly what its

two Greek roots suggest:

homo (same)

phone (sound)

It is a word that sounds the same as another but has a different meaning. Night

and knight, for example, are homophones, as are slay and sleigh, great and grate, and

bear and bare. There are dozens of homophones, many of which you may already

know, while others that you may still find confusing. If so, this chapter will help you

get them straight.

DEFINITION

homonyms: a group of words that share the same spelling or pronunciation (or

both) but have different meanings

Standardized tests, like TOEFL iBT, will often test you on the correct homonym

for a given context—whether you should use whether or weather in a sentence, for

example, or piece or peace. It is very important to know your homonyms and use

them correctly. Otherwise, you may confuse your readers with sentences that are

at best incorrect and at worst unintelligible. So take some time to review the fol-

lowing list of frequently confused words carefully.

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