Fill in the blank with the appropriate homonym :

He favours a ___________ and stick approach to teaching.

The correct answer is "carrot".

Key Points

• The phrase "carrot and stick" is an idiom that refers to a policy of offering a combination of rewards and punishment to induce behaviour.
• The "carrot" is a reward that is dangled to induce good behaviour, while the "stick" is a threat of punishment for bad behaviour.

Additional Information

Here are the meanings of the other options:

• "Carat" is a unit of weight for precious stones and pearls.
• "Karat" is a measure of the purity of gold.
• "Caret" is a symbol (^) used in writing and printing.