Homonym Creative Inspiration
I am about to make a nerdy admission: I find an incredible amount of creative inspiration in…homonyms. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines a homonym as “two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins.”
One word; multiple meanings.
I love homonyms because they give me different angles from which to look at a story. Light allows things to be visible, and it can also refer to the weight of something carried. Spring is a lovely time of year, and it is also a buoyant motion. Years ago, I ended a blog post with this sentence: “Season the season” because season can be both a noun or a verb. Sometimes a single word is so much more than a single word.
Included here are 10 of my favorite homonyms.
Treat each word as its own separate prompt. Set a timer for 5 minutes and write about whatever comes to mind. Once you have written about both meanings, ask yourself some questions: Did any common themes emerge? Can the two words come together in any way? Is there a story here that you didn’t see before—something that demands further attention?
I can’t wait to see where this takes you!
Light
Noun: something that makes vision possible
Adjective: having little weight; not heavy
Spring
Noun: a time or season of growth or development
Verb: dart, shoot, to be resilient or elastic
Season
Noun: a time characterized by a particular circumstance or feature
Verb: to give food more flavor or zest
Plant
Verb: to put or set in the ground for growth
Verb: to place firmly or forcibly
Arm
Noun: a human upper limb
Verb: to furnish with something that strengthens or protects
Leaves
Noun: the plural of leaf
Verb: to go away from
Point
Noun: the most important essential in a discussion or matter
Verb: to indicate the position or direction of especially by extending a finger
Rose
Noun: prickly shrubs with pinnate leaves and showy flowers
Verb: to assume an upright position especially from lying, kneeling, or sitting
Train
Noun: an orderly succession
Verb: to teach so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient
Wave
Noun: a moving ridge or swell on the surface of a liquid (as of the sea)
Verb: to become moved or brandished to and fro