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Practise animal wordplay on paper or talk through the tasks with a partner. Use your browser's Print command to print or save as PDF. The answer key begins on a separate printed page; print only the worksheet pages if you want to keep the answers aside.

No account or online answers are needed. For explanations before you start, read the animal pun guide.

Animal wordplay: read, choose and explain

Name: ____________________   Date: ____________________

Word bank: hare · hair · paws · pause · mane · main · tail · tale

  1. Choose the usual spelling: “Please brush your ______ before the photo.”
  2. Make an animal pun: “The rabbit opened a ______ salon.” Which ordinary word did you change?
  3. The puppy asked for a “paws” in the music. Write the ordinary word it sounds like, then explain both meanings.
  4. Choose the usual spelling: “The ______ character is the most important character in a story.” Which animal word could replace it in a horse pun?
  5. Finish both sentences: “The fox has a bushy ______.” “Grandpa told a bedtime ______.”
  6. A duck says, “I already have a bill!” when the cafe asks it to pay. What are the two meanings of bill?
  7. Sort these examples: hare/hair, duck bill/cafe bill, moo-sical. Which uses sound-alike words, which uses one word with two meanings, and which changes a word with an animal sound?
  8. Choose one word pair from the word bank. Write a kind animal pun, or draw two pictures showing the meanings. Explain the surprise to a partner.

Answer key and teacher notes

  1. Hair. This sentence uses the ordinary spelling.
  2. Hare. It replaces hair. Explain that a hare is related to a rabbit, rather than another name for every rabbit.
  3. Pause. A pause is a short stop. Paws are animal feet.
  4. Main is the ordinary spelling; mane makes the horse pun.
  5. Tail for the fox; tale for the story.
  6. A duck's beak and a request for payment.
  7. Hare/hair: sound-alike words. Bill/bill: one word with different meanings. Moo-sical: an animal sound inserted into a familiar word.
  8. Answers vary. Look for a clear connection between the animal and the changed word, an explanation of the meanings, and humour that is kind.

Read tasks aloud if helpful. Learners can point, draw or explain orally. Some sound-alike pairs vary with accent; discuss the sounds learners use rather than treating an accent difference as a mistake. This is informal practice, not an assessment tied to a particular curriculum.

Find more classroom activities and animal riddles with answers.

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