Nouns are one of the most interesting parts of speech as they can sometimes act as verbs too. In this column, we are going to take a look at some words that can either be used as nouns or verbs. More often than not many people get confused with these words. Let us take a look at the example below for instance:
- The dance looks nice. (Noun)
- I dance every day. (Verb)
In the above examples, the word ‘dance’ in the first sentence is functioning as a noun. But in the second sentence, the word ‘dance’ now functions as a verb.
Other words that can be used as nouns and verbs include the following: Walk, worship, dream, fight, support, trust, refuse, jail, sentence, position, paint, comment, police, center, labor, catch, focus, attempt, kiss, school, use, ring, form, farm, book, dance, demands, school, silence, point, ring, plant, plan, move, file, fire, dialogue, scheme etc.
All the above words can be use as both nouns and verbs, depending on how it is being used in a sentence.
Examples:
- I have a dream. (Noun)
- I dream every night. (Verb)
- We listen in silence. (Noun)
- We silence their towns. (Verb)
- The fight was interesting. (Noun)
- The boys fight in the street. (Verb)
- The support we received from our English teacher was immense. (Noun)
- I shall support you tonight. (Verb)
- I am happy our demands were met by the Prime Minister yesterday. (Noun)
- The law demands that you surrender all the items you stole from the office. (Verb)
- In Economics, there is a difference between our wants and needs. (Noun)
- She wants to have fun tonight. (Verb)
These are just some of the examples that I could come up with. You can use the words above and form sentences of your own. In forming these sentences try using each word without changing the form in which they appear.
Did you know?
For every order ProofreadingServices.com processes, we donate one book to a homeless shelter. If you’d like to support our social mission, you can order proofreading, translation, or resume writing.
There are many words in the English language that are both nouns and verbs. Find out from our list what they are. List of words that are objects and action words.
| access | dump | shelter | |
| ache | dust | make | shock |
| act | dye | man | shop |
| address | echo | march | show |
| aim | mark | sign | |
| alert | end | match | signal |
| answer | escape | mate | silence |
| arrest | escort | matter | sin |
| attack | esteem | mean | sip |
| attribute | estimate | measure | skate |
| auction | exchange | milk | sketch |
| back | excuse | mind | ski |
| bail | exhibit | mine | slice |
| balance | experience | miss | slide |
| balloon | eye | mistake | slip |
| ban | face | moor | smell |
| bandage | fall | move | smile |
| bank | favor | mug | smirk |
| bare | fax | nail | smoke |
| bargain | fear | name | snack |
| battle | feel | need | snow |
| beam | fight | nest | sound |
| bear | file | notch | span |
| beat | fill | note | spot |
| bend | film | notice | spray |
| benefit | finish | number | sprout |
| blame | fish | object | squash |
| blast | fix | offer | stain |
| bleach | flap | oil | stamp |
| block | flash | order | stand |
| bloom | float | pack | star |
| blow | flood | pad | start |
| board | floss | paddle | state |
| bomb | flow | paint | steer |
| bother | flower | park | step |
| bounce | fly | part | sting |
| bow | fold | pass | stop |
| box | fool | paste | store |
| bread | force | pat | storm |
| break | form | pause | stress |
| breed | frame | pay | strip |
| broadcast | freeze | pedal | stroke |
| brush | frown | peel | struggle |
| bump | function | pelt | study |
| burn | garden | permit | stuff |
| buy | gaze | phone | stunt |
| cake | gel | photograph | subject |
| call | glue | pick | suit |
| camp | grate | pine | supply |
| care | grease | place | support |
| catch | grill | plan | surf |
| cause | grimace | plane | surprise |
| challenge | grin | plant | suspect |
| change | grip | play | swap |
| chant | guarantee | plow | swing |
| charge | guard | plug | swivel |
| cheat | guess | point | tack |
| check | guide | poke | talk |
| cheer | hammer | pop | taste |
| chip | hand | post | tear |
| claim | handle | practice | tease |
| clip | harm | praise | telephone |
| cloud | harness | present | test |
| clue | hate | proceed | thought |
| coach | head | process | thunder |
| color | heap | produce | tick |
| comb | heat | progress | tie |
| combat | help | project | time |
| comfort | hide | promise | tip |
| conduct | highlight | protest | tire |
| conflict | hike | pull | toast |
| contest | hit | pump | touch |
| contract | hold | punch | tour |
| contrast | hop | push | tow |
| control | hope | question | trace |
| cook | hose | quilt | track |
| coop | hug | quiz | trade |
| copy | humor | race | train |
| cost | hunt | rain | transport |
| count | hurry | raise | trap |
| cover | ice | rant | travel |
| crack | impact | rate | treat |
| crash | inch | reach | trick |
| crate | increase | reason | trim |
| credit | influence | rebel | trust |
| crush | insult | record | tug |
| cure | interest | refill | turn |
| curl | iron | refund | twist |
| curve | itch | reign | type |
| cut | jail | reject | upstage |
| cycle | jam | rent | use |
| dam | joke | repair | vacuum |
| damage | judge | repeat | value |
| dance | jump | reply | visit |
| deal | keep | report | voice |
| decay | kick | request | vote |
| decrease | kiss | rhyme | wake |
| delay | knit | ring | walk |
| delight | knock | riot | waltz |
| demand | knot | risk | watch |
| design | label | rock | water |
| dial | land | roll | wave |
| die | last | row | wear |
| dislike | laugh | ruin | whip |
| display | lead | rule | whisper |
| dive | leap | run | whistle |
| divorce | level | sail | wick |
| dock | license | sand | wink |
| double | lie | saw | wire |
| doubt | lift | scare | wish |
| drain | light | scratch | work |
| draw | limit | screw | worry |
| dream | link | search | wrap |
| dress | load | season | wreck |
| drill | loan | sense | X-ray |
| drink | lock | shampoo | yawn |
| drive | look | shape | yield |
| duck | love | share | zone |
Can a verb also be a noun? The short answer is: yes.
As we know a noun is a word that names things, such as persons, places and things, as well as feelings, ideas and acts. We also know that verbs are action words. We use verbs to describe what nouns do. So how can a verb also be a noun.
Let’s take a look at an example:
The word: play.
I like to play in the park with my friends.
Play is a verb in this sentence.
We’re going to see a play tonight at the theater.
Play is a noun in this sentence.
There are lots of words that can be both a noun and a verb. Here are some:
- Bait
- Love
- Peel
- Bowl
- Exit
- Fly
- Park
- Ship
We’ve created some worksheets in our grade 3 grammar section for students to practice writing sentences with words that are both nouns and verbs.
For further practice, we also have worksheets on identifying nouns, verbs and adjectives in sentences.
Become a Member
This content is available to members only.
Join K5 to save time, skip ads and access more content.
Learn More
LANGUAGE ARTS — Languages
Have You Ever Wondered…
- Can a word be both a noun and a verb?
- What’s the difference between nouns and verbs?
- Can you create your own funny sentences using the same word as a noun and a verb?
Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by Celina. Celina Wonders, “Why a word can be verb and noun?” Thanks for WONDERing with us, Celina!
Ready for some grammar? What was that? Did we hear a groan from someone out there?
Okay, we know grammar isn’t always the most exciting and fun subject during the school day — recess and lunch take those spots! — but it CAN be fun to play with words from time to time.
When you begin to learn grammar, you probably start with two of the most common parts of speech: nouns and verbs. Getting the hang of the difference between these two parts of speech puts you on the right track to becoming a good writer.
Nouns name things. Many times, you will hear people define nouns as persons, places, or things. But they can also name feelings, ideas, and acts.
Need an example? We just gave you one! Example is a noun. Some of our other favorite nouns are badger, Abraham Lincoln, vampire, Antarctica, couscous, love, indigestion, liberty and painting.
A noun that names one thing is singular. A name that names more than one thing is plural. For more information on singular and plural nouns, all you need to do is ask a moose.
Verbs describe action. We use verbs in sentences to describe what the nouns do. Monkeys peel bananas. Monkeys eat bananas. Monkeys love bananas. Peel, eat and love are all verbs in these sentences.
Hold on! Just a second. Not so fast. Just a couple of paragraphs ago, we said that love was a noun. Then we said love was a verb. Which is it?
Believe it or not, it’s both! Yes, it’s true. A word can be both a noun and a verb. In fact, there are many words that can be used to name a person, place, or thing and also describe an action.
For example, if you’re going fishing, you’ll need bait. Once you find an earthworm, you can use it to bait your hook. If it’s hot while you’re fishing, you might get thirsty for a drink. If you brought drinks in a cooler with you, you can drink the drink that you brought!
There are many, many more examples of words that can be both nouns and verbs. Here are a few that you’re probably familiar with:
- bowl
- exit
- fly
- park
- ship
Standards:
CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.4, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.W.3, CCRA.W.4, CCRA.L.1, CCRA.L.2, CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.4, CCRA.L.5
Wonder What’s Next?
This Wonder of the Day is sure to SPORK your curiosity!
Try It Out
The examples above are just a few of the hundreds of words that can be both nouns and verbs. What others can you think of?
Put on your imagination hats and think of as many words as you can that can be both nouns and verbs. Then write some funny sentences using some of these words in both ways. See if you can make it into a story!
Find a newspaper or magazine article. Underline the nouns and circle the verbs. Review the words you marked and see if any were used as both a noun and a verb.
Explain to an adult or a friend about words that can be used as both nouns and verbs. See if they can come up with sentences of their own.
If you don’t mind, share some of your creative sentences with your Wonder Friends by posting them to Facebook. We can’t wait to read what you come up with!
Did you get it?
Test your knowledge
Wonder Contributors
We’d like to thank:
paris
for contributing questions about today’s Wonder topic!
Keep WONDERing with us!
What are you wondering?
Related Wonders for You to Explore
In the world of grammar, some words do double-duty by serving as more than just one part of speech. Though we often spend a good deal of time drilling students on the big differences between nouns and verbs, some words can actually be both. In fact, it happens more often than you might think, and once you start to notice this phenomenon, you’ll see these special words everywhere.
The Difference Between Nouns and Verbs
A quick refresher: Nouns are words that represent a person, place, thing or idea. They often serve as the subject of a sentence; that is, the thing that performs an action. For example:
The girl hugged the cat.
In this sentence, the girl is a noun that stand for a person, and the person is performing the act of hugging.
Notice that there’s another noun in the sentence, too: cat. This noun is not performing the action but is instead being acted upon. This noun is the object.
Verbs, on the other hand, are the action words in a sentence. In the above example, hugged is the verb, or the action the girl performs. Verbs come in all sorts of tenses,but their function is always the same: to show what’s happening in the sentence.
When Nouns and Verbs Collide
Some words can be used as both nouns (things) and verbs (actions). Their usage may sometimes change their pronunciation, but it’s often simply context clues that make all the difference in your understanding. For example:
In this sentence, the first use of “attack” is a noun; the second is a verb. “Attack” is pronounced the same in both cases.
Though the boy tried to use his broken alarm clock as an excuse, the teacher would not excuse his absence on the day of the final exam.
In the sentence above, the first use of “excuse” is a noun; the second is a verb. Note that the pronunciation of the word changes depending on its usage. As a noun, “excuse” uses a softs “s” sound, but as a verb it uses a “z” sound instead.
A List of Verbs That Are Also Nouns
Though it’s hardly a complete list, you can share hundreds of examples of words that are both nouns and verbs with your students. Try these on for size:
| act
address aim answer back balloon bank battle bear bend blast block break brush catch challenge charge cheer color cook crack curl cycle dance design |
die
divorce double doubt dust echo end estimate face finish fish flood fool frown garden glue guard guess hammer hand head hug insult iron joke |
kick
kiss laugh loan love man march milk name number object order paddle peel permit play pop practice produce punch question quiz rhyme rock roll |
run
sand saw skate smell surprise thunder tie time toast trace train treat trick use vacuum value visit wake walk water wish work x-ray yawn zone |
Want to print a practice worksheet? Nouns that are also verbs worksheet
Additional Articles you May Like:
What is subject verb agreement?
What does a Pronoun Do?
Can you end a sentence with a verb?