in portuguese, i just came across “por que o vírus da gripe não tem amigos? porque ele é uma má influenza”
translation: “why does the flu virus have no friends? because it’s a bad influenza!”(Influence)
i think it could work in english but sounds better in portuguese.
A similar joke could be made in English as “root”, to dig with the nose, is also part of a plant. Earthworm is, unfortunately, not a homophone.
My favorite of this style is about roast beef and pea soup.