Pun equals fun! Do you love adding a little humour to conversations or enjoy making people laugh with clever wordplay? Then puns are just what you need. A pun is a funny way of using words that sound alike or have more than one meaning to create a joke. In this lesson, you will learn the meaning of puns, types of puns, examples of puns in literature, and how they can be used in everyday life. You’ll also find plenty of examples that make learning both interesting and entertaining. So, get ready to laugh, learn how puns can make English grammar more enjoyable!

What Is a Pun?
What are the 4 Types of Puns?
Simple Pun
Examples of Puns in Literature
Best Tips for Making a Good Pun
Frequently Asked Questions on Pun

What Is a Pun?

A pun is a figure of speech that includes a play of words that have more than one meaning or that sound alike. Another word for a pun is “paronomasia,” which derives from the Greek word “paronomazein,” which means to make a change in a name. Puns can add humour to writing, and, in some cases, are used as Easter eggs, an unexpected, hidden joke to entertain perceptive readers.

Some puns use homophones to give a statement double meaning. Remember, homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings, like ‘there’ and ‘their’.

What are the 4 Types of Puns?

Puns can be classified in different ways, depending on the intentional effect of the phrase. Puns can put similar-sounding words together, pair terms with similar meanings, or play on a word with multiple definitions. Here are four different types of puns:

Homophonic Puns

What it means: Uses homophones- words that sound the same (or very close) but have different spellings/meanings.
If you can swap one word for a different word that sounds the same and it still “works” in a funny way, it’s homophonic.

Examples

The music teacher got in trouble; she noted her mistakes.
The dentist’s favourite time? Tooth-hurty (2:30).
The math book looked sad; it had too many problems.
"I'm on a seafood diet. I see food, and I eat it."
"Be kind to dentists. They have fillings too, you know."
"How do you organise a space party? You planet!"
"Need an ark? I Noah guy."
"I don’t enjoy computer jokes. Not one bit."

Homographic Puns

What it means: Uses homographs- words that are spelt the same but have different meanings (and sometimes different pronunciations).
If one spelling can be read two ways, you’ve got a homographic pun.

Examples

The baseball game was so intense, then they played another in tents.
I saw a carpenter with a saw.
The duck had to duck the ball.
"Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything!"
"I used to be addicted to soap, but I'm clean now."
"I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger... then it hit me."
"I’m inclined to be laid back."
"I used to work at a calendar factory, but I got fired for taking a couple of days off."

Homonymic Puns

What it means: Uses homonyms- words that are spelt and pronounced the same but carry different meanings.
Same word, two meanings, one joke.

Examples

The battery was charged, and so was my phone.
The crane helped build the zoo near the crane.
The pitcher threw water after the pitcher threw the ball.
The fisherman was at the bank, but he wasn’t depositing money.
The bat flew out of the cave, just as the boy swung his bat.
The pitcher was broken, so the pitcher couldn’t pour water.
The light was too light for the heavy box.
He went to the park to park his bicycle.

Compound Puns

What it means: Packs two or more puns into a single line. If your sentence hides multiple wordplays, it’s a compound pun.

Examples

Never lie in the jungle; cheetahs are always spotted.
Bakers make enough dough to roll with it.
The librarian lost her place; now she needs more time to book it.
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger… then it hit me.
The shoemaker had too many loafers hanging around, so he needed to boot them out.
The clock factory had to close too much time on its hands.
The gardener’s reputation is growing fast, he’s really outstanding in his field.
The musician was sharp, but not too flat, and always in treble.

Simple Pun

Now that you’ve learned about the main types of puns, let’s look at some simple and funny puns that are easy to understand. These puns will make you laugh while also helping you notice how words can have more than one meaning or sound. Wordplay like this is a great way to improve your vocabulary and grammar without feeling like you’re studying.

pun

As you read the puns below, try to identify which type of pun each one belongs to homophonic, homographic, homonymic, or compound. This way, you can enjoy the joke and learn at the same time!

"A cross-eyed teacher couldn't control his pupils."
"I'm reading a horror story in Braille. Something bad is about to happen... I can feel it."
"The past, present, and future walked into a bar. It was tense."
"I don't trust stairs. They're always up to something."
"Did you hear about the mathematician who's afraid of negative numbers? He'll stop at nothing to avoid them."
"I used to play piano by ear, but now I use my hands."
"I relish the fact that you mustard the strength to ketchup to me."
"What did the triangle say to the circle? You’re so pointless."
"It’s not that the guy didn’t know how to juggle… he just didn’t have the balls to do it."
"I’m glad I know sign language. It’s become quite handy."
"Why is it so wet in England? Because many kings and queens have reigned there."
"The wedding was so emotional that even the cake was in tiers."
"What do you call cheese that isn't yours? Nacho cheese!"
"The shovel was a ground-breaking invention."
"What did one eye say to the other? Just between you and me, something smells."
"I stayed up all night wondering where the sun went. Then it dawned on me."
"The best way to communicate with fish is to drop them a line."
"The graveyard is so crowded, people are dying to get in!"
"I can’t stand Russian dolls. They’re so full of themselves."
"What did one wall say to the other wall? I'll meet you at the corner!"

Examples of Puns in Literature

Examples of puns can be traced as far back as 184 B.C., with the plays of Roman playwright Plautus. Here are some examples of popular puns throughout literature.

1. William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet:

Shakespeare plays on the meaning of the word heavy as both a descriptor for weight and sadness. Romeo says: “Give me a torch: I am not for this ambling; Being but heavy I will bear the light.”

2. Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest:

The play’s biggest pun is in the title. Earnest is a play on the name Ernst. The character Jack, who is neither earnest in nature or Ernst by name, ends up being both by the novel’s end. Jack says: “I always told you, Gwendolen, my name was Ernest, didn’t I? Well, it is Ernest after all. I mean it naturally is Ernest.”

3. Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland:

The book filled with puns to help illustrate the abnormality of Wonderland. Here is an example of a pun, in which Alice confuses the words “tale” and “tail”: “‘Mine is a long and a sad tale! said the Mouse, turning to Alice, and sighing. ‘It is a long tail, certainly,’ said Alice, looking down with wonder at the Mouse’s tail; ‘but why do you call it sad?’”

4. Charles Dickens, Great Expectations:

Take this sentence, for example, in which the different meanings of the word “point” are exploited: “They seemed to think the opportunity lost, if they failed to point the conversation to me, every now and then, and stick the point into me.”

5. Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita:

Nabokov uses many multilingual puns in this classic. For example, the name of the character Humbert is a pun in both French and Spanish: Humbert means “shadow” in French, and “man” in Spanish.

Best Tips for Making a Good Pun

Here are some tips for crafting winning puns in your writing.

Learn the different types of puns:
Before you create your own, understand how puns work. For example, when two words sound the same but have different meanings, you can use them to make a funny sentence.
Notice the tricky parts of English:
English has lots of confusing grammar rules, spellings, and pronunciations. Sometimes, these “mistakes” can be used for humour. Example: “The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar. It was tense!”
Connect words freely:
Let your brain make fun connections between words, meanings, and ideas. Often, the funniest puns come from linking words in surprising ways.
Build your vocabulary:
The more words you know, the more material you’ll have for puns. Pay attention to new words you read or hear, and think about how they might be used in a joke.
Use a rhyming dictionary or word tool:
If you have one word in mind, a rhyming dictionary can help you find another word to pair with it. This makes pun-making faster and more creative.

Frequently Asked Questions on Pun

Q1. What does pun intended mean?

Answer: Pun intended means that the joke was a deliberate one. A pun is a play with a word, e.g. "You can tune a guitar, but you can't tuna fish." Sometimes authors accidentally do this; that is, they did not mean to play with a word, but a reader can interpret the author's work as a pun. However, here, it is specifically stating that this pun was intended or deliberate.

Q2. What is a pun in a figure of speech?

Answer: A pun is a figure of speech, or a type of wordplay, that creates humour by exploiting the different meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings. By using a word in a way that suggests multiple interpretations or by using similar-sounding words, a pun adds a layer of depth and cleverness to language.

Q3. What is a homographic pun?

Answer: A homographic pun relies on homographs, which are words that are spelt the same but have different meanings and often different pronunciations, to create humour. Unlike homophonic puns that use words that sound the same, homographic puns are typically found in written text and play on the different ways a single spelling can be interpreted.