InstantWord Lists Teaching Reading and Writing · InstantWord Lists for Teaching Reading and Writing EilEEn Thompson & gEnE panhorsT New York • Toronto • London • Auckland •

Instant Word Lists for Teaching Reading and Writing

EilEEn Thompson & gEnE panhorsT

New York • Toronto • London • Auckland • SydneyMexico City • New Delhi • Hong Kong • Buenos Aires

Instant Word Lists for Teaching Reading and Writing © e2 Publishing Services, LLC. Published by Scholastic Teaching Resources

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Chapter 1 Words That Cause Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Homophones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Homographs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Words Pronounced Differently as Different Parts of Speech . . . . 28

Commonly Confused Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Irregular Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Nouns With Irregular Plurals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Nouns That Are Always Plural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Collective Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Words With Silent Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Silent e Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Words Not Spelled as They Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Chapter 2 Vocabulary Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Prefixes (From Greek, Latin, and Old English) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Suffixes (From Greek, Latin, and Old English) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Roots (From Greek, Latin, and Old English) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Compound Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Clipped Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Common Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Acronyms and Initialisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Words From Mythology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Words Based on Names of People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Words Based on Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Words From Wars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Portmanteau Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Words Shakespeare Added to the Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Words Coined From Literature and Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Contents


Chapter 3 Words From Other Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Words From African Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Words From Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Words From Australian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Words From Chinese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Words From Dutch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Words From French . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Words From German . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Words From Greek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Words From Hindi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Words From Italian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Words From Japanese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Words From Latin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Words From Native American Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Words From Portuguese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Words From Russian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Words From Sanskrit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Words From Scandinavian Languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Words From Spanish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Words From Turkish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Words From Yiddish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

French Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Latin Phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Spanish-English Cognates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

British-American Words and Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Chapter 4 Word Differences and Wordplay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Shades-of-Difference Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Adjectives That Show Degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Color Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Euphemisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Contents


Regionalisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Onomatopoeia Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Nouns and Adjectives for Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Palindromes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Idioms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Words That Come in Nonreversible Pairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Two-Part Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Chapter 5 Jargon and Technical Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Business Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Media Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Computer Words and Technology Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Geography Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Music Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Health Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Art Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Measurement Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Sports Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Writers on Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205


�

Words That Cause Problems

Chapter 1

There are many types of words in English that can be difficult to learn and remember. These tricky words may

sound alike (homophones), look alike (homographs, or even similar words such as conscience and conscious), have irregular forms (such as certain verbs or plural nouns), or not sound as they are spelled (often due to silent letters).

Having a dictionary or thesaurus on hand is always helpful when trying to determine the meaning of a word. However, using context clues to select the meaning that best fits that context is an excellent skill to reinforce as students learn more about homophones, homographs, commonly confused words, and so on. Remind students that the context of a word includes all the other words, phrases, clauses, and sentences around it.

You may also want to suggest that students tackle commonly confused words by writing a single sentence that contains any word set presenting a problem. For example, for costume/custom: He wears a festive costume (clothing) during celebrations because it is the custom (tradition or usual practice) in his country. This can later act as a mnemonic device when students encounter the words again.

“My students are

often confused by

homophones they

read. I need more

examples than the

ones provided in

my textbook.”


10

A

aid helpaide assistant

ail besickale adrink

ate pasttenseofeateight onemorethanseven

aye yeseye anorganforsight

B

bare notcoveredbear alargeanimal

be toexistbee aninsect

beat tohitordefeatbeet avegetable

been pastparticipleofbebin acontainer

blew pasttenseofblowblue acolor

brake partofamachine thatslowsitdownbreak smash

bread afoodmadewith flour,water,andyeastbred pasttenseofbreed

C

capital seatofgovernmentcapitol buildingwherestate

legislaturemeets

cell roominaprisonsell offerforsale

cellar basementseller apersonselling

something

cent 100thofadollarscent odorsent pasttenseofsend

cents penniesscents odors

cheap notexpensivecheep soundmadeby

youngbird

chews grindsupfoodchoose pick

creak squeakcreek astream

D

dear someoneloveddeer ananimal

dew moisturedo perform

die stoplivingdye coloring

E

ewe afemalesheepyou pronounthatrefers tothepersonbeing addressed(I’m speakingtoyou)

F

fair just,notbiasedfare amountchargedfor atrip

flour apowdermadefromgrain

flower blossom

for aprepositionfore thefrontofsomethingfour thenumberafter

three

HomopHones

Easy

Homophones are words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings .

Chapter 1: WordsThatCauseProblemsHomophones


11

G

gnu anAfricanantelopeknew pasttenseofknownew oppositeofold

groan moangrown pastparticipleofgrow

H

hair finestrandsgrowingonheadandskin

hare ananimalresemblingarabbit

hay driedgrasshey informalgreeting

heal tomakehealthyagainheel backpartoffoot

hear toperceivesoundhere thisplace

hi informalgreetinghigh farabovetheground

hole ahollowspacewhole complete

hour 60minutesour belongingtous

I

in theoppositeofoutinn atavernorsmallhotel

its belongingtoitit’s contractionofitis

K

knight inmedievalEurope,asoldieronhorseback

night theoppositeofday

knot somethingyoutieinaropeorstring

not noway

know tobeawareof;tohavelearned

no theoppositeofyes

L

lie toreclinelye astrongsubstance

usedforcleaning

M

made thepasttenseofmakemaid ahousekeeper

mail lettersandotheritemssentbypost

male notfemale

main chief;mostimportantMaine oneofthe50statesmane thehaironthehead

andneckofalionorhorse

O

oar apaddle;somethingyourowwith

or aconjunction

one thenumberbetweenzeroandtwo

won pasttenseofwin

P

pail abucketpale light;lackingcolor

pair twoofakindpear afruit

peace calm;quiet;aperiodwithoutwar

piece apartofsomething

pray tospeaktoGod;torequestorbeg

prey someoneorsomethingthatishunted

principal theheadofaschoolprinciple aruleorstandard

R

rap toknockwrap tocoverwithpaper

orcloth

read thepasttenseoftheverbread;foundmeaninginwrittenwords

red acolor

right correctwright someonewhomakes

orrepairssomethingwrite tocomposeorput

wordsonpaper

road apathrode pasttenseofriderowed pasttenseofrow;

paddled



12

role apartplayedbyanactor

roll tomoveonwheels

rose aflowerrows paddlesaboat

S

sail strongclothonaboatthatcatchesthewindandhelpstheboatmove

sale abargain;sellinggoodsformoney

sea theoceansee toperceivethrough

theuseoftheeyes

seam theplacewheretwopiecesofclotharejoined

seem toappeartobe

sew tousethreadtojoinpiecesofcloth;tomend

so therefore;asaresult

some notallsum thetotal

son amalechildsun thestararoundwhich

Earthrotates

T

tail thesectionattherearendofananimal’sbody

tale astory

to aprepositionshowingdirection

too alsotwo thenumberbetween

oneandthree

toad ataillesscreaturethatresemblesafrog

towed pasttenseoftow;draggedaway

toe partofthefoottow todragaway

W

wait todelayorslowdownforsomeone

weight howheavysomethingis

war conflictwore pasttenseofwear;

hadon

ware somethingyousellwear toputorhaveonwhere atwhatplace

we Iandoneormorepeople

wee little

weak notstrongweek sevendays

wood timberwould isorwaswillingto


Target

A

air amixtureofgasesthatwebreath

heir someonewhoinherits

aisle apassagewayI’ll Iwillisle asmallisland

altar atableorotherraisedstructureusedforreligiousceremonies

alter change

B

bail moneypaidtoreleasesomeonefromprisontemporarily

bale abundleofhay

bark theoutercoveringofatree

barque asmallsailingship

baron anoblemanbarren empty

base bottomofsomethingbass deepvoice


13


beach sandyshorebeech atypeoftree

berth abedonashiportrain

birth thebeginningoflife

billed sentastatementofcharges

build toconstruct

boar amalehogbore tomakesomeone

loseinterest

board apieceofwoodbored notinterested

born broughtintoexistence;givenlife

borne pastparticipleofbear

borough partofalargecityburro asmalldonkeyburrow asmallholeinwhich

ananimallives

brews preparesadrinkbruise adamagedand

discoloredareaontheskin

bridal relatingtoaweddingbridle leatherstrapsto

controlahorse

but exceptbutt tohitorpush

C

cache astockpilecash money

cereal abreakfastfoodserial astorypublished

ininstallments(onepartatatime)

chute apassageorshaft

shoot tofireordischarge

cite tonameormention

sight theabilitytoseesite aplaceor

location

clause agroupofwordswithasubjectandpredicate

claws thecurvednailsofananimal

coarse rough;notsmooth

course apathorroute

colonel amilitaryofficerkernel agrainofcereal

complement togowellwithoraddto

compliment praise

coop apenorcagecoupe acar

core center;maincorps amilitaryunitor

othergroupofpeople

council anassemblyorcommittee

counsel toadvise

crews groupsofpeoplework-ingonashiporwhoperformasimilartask

cruise ajourneybyboat

cue apromptorsignaltodosome-thing

queue alineofpeople

currant atypeoffruitcurrent up-to-date

cymbal amusicalinstrument

symbol asign

D

days periodsoftimemadeupof24hours;pluralofday

daze astateofconfusion

doe afemaledeerdough mixtureofflour,

water,andotheringredients

dual double;withtwoparts

duel afightwithswords

E

earn tomakemoneyurn avase

eaves partofaroofthatsticksoutoverthewallthatsupportsit

eves pluralofeve;thedayornightjustbeforeanimportantholidayorfestival(NewYear’sEve)


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InstantWord Lists Teaching Reading and Writing · InstantWord Lists for Teaching Reading and Writing EilEEn Thompson & gEnE panhorsT New York • Toronto • London • Auckland •