This is the second blog post in a three-part series on the relationships between the pronunciation of English words and their spellings. Follow the links for part one of the series on Silent Letters and part three on the Sound System of American English.
As mentioned in the previous blog post, it often happens that the spelling of an English word doesn’t match up well with its pronunciation. There’s another category of word that can also cause confusion; these are words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meanings. These words are called “homophones”. If you memorize the most common homophones in English, then you will avoid a lot of potential confusion in your communications. An added bonus of memorizing common homophones is that you will be able to easily understand many jokes, puns, and plays on words that you encounter (or even spice up your conversations by creating such plays on words yourself!)
Without further ado, here is a chart of some of the most common sets of homophones in English. Remember, all of the words in the left column are pronounced the same way. That is, if you say “ate, eight” out loud, then it should sound exactly the same as if you said “ate, ate” or “eight, eight”.
| Spelling: | Pronounced: |
| ad, add | ad |
| Adam, atom | AD-um |
| air, err, heir | air |
| aisle, isle, I’ll | AI-ull |
| aloud, allowed | uh-LOUD |
| altar, alter | ALL-ter |
| ant, aunt | ant |
| assent, ascent | uh-SENT |
| ate, eight | ate |
| bail, bale | bale |
| ball, bawl | bawl |
| band, banned | band |
| bazaar, bizarre | buh-ZAR |
| bare, bear | bare (rhymes with “air”) |
| base, bass (instrument) | base (rhymes with “ace”) |
| be, bee | bee |
| beat, beet | beet |
| berry, bury | berry |
| bin, been | bin |
| billed, build | bild |
| bite, byte | byte |
| blew, blue | bloo |
| board, bored | bord |
| brake, break | brake |
| buy, by, bye | by |
| carrot, karat | KARE-ut |
| cell, sell | sell |
| cent, sent, scent | sent |
| cereal, serial | serial |
| chili, chilly, Chile | chill-ee |
| chews, choose | chooz |
| cite, site, sight | site |
| close, clothes | kloz |
| core, corps | kor |
| course, coarse | korss |
| creek, creak | creek |
| cue, queue | kyoo |
| days, daze | daze |
| deer, dear | deer |
| die, dye | dye |
| do, due, dew | doo |
| fair, fare | fare |
| faze, phase | faze |
| finish, Finnish | finish |
| find, fined | find |
| feudal, futile | FYU-dul |
| flea, flee | flee |
| feat, feet | feet |
| flower, flour | FLOW-er (“flow” rhymes with “cow”) |
| for, four | for |
| fowl, foul | FOW-ul |
| great, grate | grate |
| groan, grown | grone |
| Greece, grease | grees |
| guest, guessed | gest (rhymes with “best”) |
| gym, Jim | jim |
| hair, hare | hair |
| hall, haul | hawl |
| heal, heel | heel |
| hear, here | heer |
| heed, he’d | heed |
| herd, heard | herd |
| him, hymn | him |
| hire, higher | hi-er |
| hole, whole | hol |
| horse, hoarse | horse |
| hostel, hostile | HAHST-ul |
| hurts, hertz | herts |
| I, eye | AI |
| in, inn | in |
| intense, intents | intense |
| jewels, joules | joolz |
| lessen, lesson | less-in |
| maid, made | made |
| mail, male | male |
| manner, manor | manner |
| meat, meet | meet |
| metal, medal, meddle | MED-ul |
| need, knead | need |
| new, knew | noo |
| no, know | no |
| nose, knows | noz |
| not, knot | not |
| nun, none | nun |
| oh, owe | oh |
| one, won | wun |
| or, oar | or |
| our, hour | ow-er |
| pail, pale | pale |
| pair, pare, pear | pare |
| past, passed | past |
| peace, piece | peese |
| peer, pier | peer |
| plane, plain | plane |
| poll, pole | poll |
| pour, pore | pore |
| prince, prints | prins |
| principal, principle | PRINCE-i-pul |
| profit, prophet | PRAH-fit |
| rain, rein, reign | rane |
| rap, wrap | rap |
| red, read | red |
| right, write, rite, wright | rite |
| ring, wring | ring |
| road, rode, rowed | rode |
| roll, role | roll |
| root, route | root |
| sail, sale | sale |
| sea, see | see |
| seam, seem | seem |
| seas, sees, seize | seez |
| seen, scene | seen |
| seller, cellar | seller |
| side, sighed | side |
| so, sow, sew | so |
| sole, soul, Seoul | sole |
| some, sum | sum |
| son, sun | sun |
| stair, stare | stare |
| steal, steel | steel |
| sweet, suite | sweet |
| sword, soared | sord |
| tail, tale | tale |
| taught, taut | tawt |
| tear (meaning: drop of water), tier | teer |
| tear (meaning: rip), tare | tair |
| tense, tents | tense |
| there, their, they’re | thair |
| threw, through | threw |
| thrown, throne | throne |
| tie, Thai | tye |
| to, too, two | too |
| tow, toe | toe |
| vain, vein | vain |
| way, weigh | way |
| wait, weight | wait |
| weather, whether | wether |
| week, weak | week |
| where, wear, ware | ware |
| which, witch | witch |
| whose, who’s | hooz |
| will, we’ll | will |
| wood, would | wood |
| wore, war | wore |
| worn, warn | worn |
| your, you’re | yer |
Do you have further questions about American English, or are you interested in accent training? Reach out and contact me!
This word set can be confusing, even for word geeks. Let’s start with the basics. A homograph is a word that has the same spelling as another word but has a different sound and a different meaning:
lead (to go in front of)/lead (a metal)
wind (to follow a course that is not straight)/wind (a gust of air)
bass (low, deep sound)/bass (a type of fish)
A homophone is a word that has the same sound as another word but has a different meaning. Homophones may or may not have the same spelling. Here are some examples:
to/two/too
there/their/they’re
pray/prey
Not so bad, right? The ending –graph means drawn or written, so a homograph has the same spelling. The –phone ending means sound or voice, so a homophone has the same pronunciation. But here’s where it gets tricky. Depending on whom you talk to, homonym means either:
A word that is spelled like another but has a different sound and meaning (homograph); a word that sounds like another but has a different spelling and meaning (homophone)
OR
A word that is spelled and pronounced like another but has a different meaning (homograph and homophone)
So does a homonym have to be both a homograph and a homophone, or can it be just one or the other? As with most things in life, it depends on whom you ask.
In the strictest sense, a homonym must be both a homograph and a homophone. So say many dictionaries. However, other dictionaries allow that a homonym can be a homograph or a homophone.
With so many notable resources pointing to the contrary, are we losing this strict meaning? What then will we call a word that is spelled and pronounced the same as another but has a different meaning? If homonym retains all these meanings, how will readers know what is actually meant?
The careful writer would do well to follow the strict sense, ensuring his meaning is understood immediately.
homograph
Use the noun homograph to talk about two words that are spelled the same but have different meanings and are sometimes pronounced differently — like sow, meaning «female pig,» and sow, «to plant seeds.» Continue reading…
homonym
Can you spot the homonyms in the sentence «The baseball pitcher drank a pitcher of water»? A homonym is a word that is said or spelled the same way as another word but has a different meaning. «Write” and “right” is a good example of a pair of homonyms. Continue reading…
homophone
A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning and/or spelling. “Flower” and “flour” are homophones because they are pronounced the same but you certainly can’t bake a cake using daffodils. Continue reading…
The English language doesn’t make it easy to have flawless writing. In fact, it can be downright complicated especially with the number of words that sound the same, but have a different spelling and a different meaning. If writing in English is your job or some aspect of your job, it is so important to have all t’s crossed and i’s dotted. This is the hallmark of a good transcriber and a good writer. Because of words that are pronounced the same but have a different spelling, a writer can create confusion for the reader and reflect poorly on the writer’s skills if those pesky words are not caught during proofreading.
Words that sound the same, but are spelled differently are homonyms, a great sounding word for a quirky little part of the English language meant to slip up the average spellcheck on your computer. You must be hyper-vigilent for the possibilities of these little words slipping in and ruining what may have been a perfectly good document or transcription.
I’ve listed a few words here (or is it hear?) that are common culprits. Let’s have a go at this –words with the same sound, different spelling:
Pear Pare Pair
Be Bee
Lye Lie
Fair Fare
Bass Base
Bow Bough
Lead Led
Too To Two
Their There They’re
Mail Male
Plane Plain
Genes Jeans
Deer Dear
Hear Here
Right Write
Dye Die
Week Weak
Prey Pray
Bridal Bridle
Site Cite Sight
Principle Principal
Buy Bye
Yes, these are just a few of the little words that can trip up any simple spellcheck. I’m sure you can add more. Happily, there are some grammar and spellcheck programs that can ferret out homonyms. Still, good transcribers and writers should be on the lookout for the homonym when proofreading. As with any other grammatical or spelling error, there is always the chance that a homonym may sneak through. Flawless is what we aim for in our writing, certainly in any transcription business, and one homonym can ruin that.
So, the lesson in this writing is transcribers and writers must remain alert for the spoilers, the homonyms, the unique words that sound the same, but have a different spelling and a different meaning. They can be the weak (or is it week?) spot in your writing.
Write On!
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My students often ask me the difference in pronunciation of words like son & sun, meet & meat, write & right, and which & which. And do you know what? Each of those pairs is pronounced exactly the same, even though they’re spelled differently. It’s important to not let your eyes fool you. English spelling can sometimes be unusual. While there are many rules to help you pronounce words based on their spelling, there are also exceptions to the rules. And those exceptions tend to occur in our most common words. Train your ears to tell you the pronunciation of words, not your eyes.
Prefer to see this as a video, rather than read it? Just click here: Homophones video.
Words that sound the same, but have different meanings and different spellings are called homophones. The prefix “homo” means same, and the root word “phone” means sound, so if you put them together in the word “homophone”, it means “same sound”. There are so many homophones in English, so I’ll give you a list of the ones I think you’re most likely to use. I’ve categorized them based on their vowel sounds. That way, if you’ve not yet mastered a particular vowel sound, you can watch one of my videos on how to pronounce that vowel. Click on the link to go to my American English Vowels playlist on Youtube: Vowels Videos.
Long Vowels:
Long A homophones: vowel pronounced like the alphabet letter A
• ate/eight
• brake/break
• male/mail
• sale/sail
• wait/weight
• way/weigh
Long E homophones: vowel pronounced like the alphabet letter E
• beet/beat
• genes/jeans
• meet/meat
• peace/piece
• see/sea
• sweet/suite
• week/weak
Long I homophones: vowel pronounced like the alphabet letter I
• buy/by/bye
• I/eye
• sight/site
• write/right
Long O homophones: vowel pronounced like the alphabet letter O
• close/clothes
• hole/whole
• no/know
• nose/knows
• so/sew
• toe/tow
Long OO homophones: vowel pronounced like the OO in “food”
• do/due/dew
• to/too/2
• chews/choose
Short Vowels:
Short A homophones: vowel pronounced like the A in “cat”
• ant/aunt
Short E homophones: vowel pronounced like the E in “bed”
• read*/red (*the past tense of read)
• weather/whether
Short I homophones: vowel pronounced like the I in “sit”
• which/witch
Short U homophones: vowel pronounced like the U in “fun”
• son/sun
• one/won
Short OO homophones: vowel pronounced like the OO in “book”
• would/wood
R Controlled Vowels:
“Ear” sound homophones: vowel sounds like “ear”
• deer/dear
• here/hear
• tear*/tier
*tear like in the tears you cry. There is another word with that same spelling with a different pronunciation: tear, which means to rip. This word rhymes with “hair”.)
“Air” sound homophones: vowel sounds like “air”
• fairy/ferry
• Mary/marry/merry
• there/their/they’re
• vary/very
• where/wear
“Or” sound homophones: vowel sounds like “or”
• for/4
“Hour” sound homophones: vowel sounds like “hour”
• hour/our
There are lots of English words that sound the same, but have different meanings and different spellings. Those were some of the more commonly used ones. Are there any homophones you use that are not listed here? Let me know in the comments. If there were any vowel sounds you were unfamiliar with in this article, take a look at my video on how to pronounce those sounds. Just scroll through the list of videos in this playlist until you find the ones you need: Vowels Videos.
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meaning and spellings. You can download and learn homophones with our A-Z List PDF. In English there are many words in that category. You should learn how to use them, most importantly understand them correctly. English words that sound same can be hard for second comers. With some English practice and using those words in context will help you greatly.
I recommend getting some help from dictionaries and using visual cards can help you a lot. You can find some most common English words that look and sound similar with example sentences. Practice can help you to tell the difference between them easily.
1. Difference between Bear-Bare
Bear is a verb. Meaning: to hold up; support; carry
-to bear the weight of the roof.
Bare is an adjective. Meaning:(of a person or part of the body) not clothed or covered.
-bare walls, bare walls
2. Difference between Break-Brake
Break is a verb. Meaning: to smash, split, or divide into parts violently; reduce to pieces or fragments
-He broke a vase.
-She broke her promise.
Brake is a noun. Meaning: anything that has a slowing or stopping effect.
-You should brake your car when you see someone on the road.
3. Difference between Coarse-Course
Coarse is a adjective. Meaning: composed of relatively large parts or particles.
-The beach had rough, coarse sand.
Course is a noun. Meaning: Course: a series of classes you take to learn about a certain subject.
-English course
4. Difference between Desert-Dessert
Desert is a noun. Meaning: a hot, dry land with little rain and few plants or people.
-The Sahara is a vast sandy desert.
Dessert is also a noun. Meaning: cake, pie, fruit, pudding, ice cream, etc., served as the final course of a meal.
-Maybe we should have vanilla ice cream for dessert.
5. Difference between Race-Raise
Race is noun. Meaning: a contest of speed, as in running, riding, driving, or sailing.
-They spent a day at the races.
Raise is a verb. Meaning: to move to a higher position; lift up; elevate.
-Raise your head
6. Difference between Price-Prize
Price is a noun. Meaning: the sum or amount of money or its equivalent for which anything is bought, sold, or offered for sale.
-Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Prize is noun. Meaning: a reward for victory or superiority, as in a contest or competition.
-her invention won first prize in a national contest
7. Difference between Plain-Plane
Plain is an adjective. Meaning: not decorated or elaborate; simple or basic in character.
-good plain food
Plane is a noun. Meaning: a vehicle designed for air travel.
-flying with a plane
8. Difference between Lose-Loose
Lose is a verb. Mostly used with a object. Meaning: suffer a loss or fail to keep something in your possession
-I lose my hat everyday.
-I am losing my mind
Loose is an adjective. Meaning: free or released from fastening or attachment.
-a loose end.
Homophones A-Z List PDF
Homophones-A-Z List PDF – download