This ointment would help _________ the cuts on your _________.
Fill in the blanks with the correct set of homophones:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → heal, heel
- Heal is a verb meaning to make a wound or injury healthy again; the first blank needs this verb after "help".
Example: The doctor said the wound would heal in a week. - Heel is a noun meaning the back part of the foot, the place of the cuts in the second blank. Heal and heel sound the same but differ in spelling and meaning, so they are homophones.
Example: The new shoes hurt the back of my heel.
Complete sentence: This ointment would help heal the cuts on your heel.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: heel, heal — Incorrect. The words are in the wrong order: "help heel the cuts on your heal" makes no sense.
Option 3: peel, heel — Incorrect. To peel is to remove the skin of a fruit or vegetable; an ointment does not peel cuts, and peel and heel are not homophones.
Example: Please peel the potatoes for the curry.
Option 4: heal, knee — Incorrect. "Heal the cuts on your knee" makes sense, but heal and knee are not homophones, and the question asks for a set of homophones.