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!
Explore posts in the same categories: Writing Tutorial
This entry was posted on July 3, 2013 at 10:32 am and is filed under Writing Tutorial. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post’s comments.
Tags: English language, homonyms, transcriber, transcription
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
Why are there two pronunciations of the same spelling?
You may have noticed that many English words are spelled the same but pronounced differently. Words like these can cause trouble for English learners since using the wrong pronunciation can cause confusion and misunderstandings, or a lower score on a speaking test. Problem words like this are called heteronyms. The most common heteronyms are words that change their meaning depending on where the stress is placed or how the vowels are pronounced. By practicing these and other common heteronyms, you can learn to avoid common mistakes and avoid misunderstandings. That’s why in this article we’ll look at how to pronounce words with the same spelling but different vowel sound.
For more heteronyms, you can find out how some are pronounced differently with changes in sense stress (word stress) in this article.
Take a look at the following sentences and try to figure out how to read these properly. Understanding how vowel sounds can be represented will help you.
Practice set: same spelling but different vowel sound
Challenge: can you find the one sentence below in which the consonant sounds differ, not the vowel sounds?
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) We must polish the Polish furniture.
3) He could lead if he would get the lead out*.
4) A bass was painted on the base of the bass drum.
5) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
6) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
7) They were too close to the door to close it.
The buck does funny things when the does are present.
*idiom
Ready for another set?
Challenge: Can you find the one sentence below in which the consonant sounds differ, not the vowel sounds?
9) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
10) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
11) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
12) After a number of injections, my jaw got number.
13) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
14) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
15) Give me a minute to examine this minute insect.
Need help?
Curious about other words with the same spelling but different vowel sound? Would you like a little more coaching on your pronunciation with a professional ESL teacher? To learn more about English pronunciation and practice it in conversation, join SpeakUp, a dynamic program that engages you in authentic conversations on relevant topics and provides you with feedback from a professional experienced English teacher. In fact, the first week is free for you to try it out!
Homophones are words that sound the same but are different in meaning or spelling. Homographs are spelled the same, but differ in meaning or pronunciation. Homonyms can be either or even both. To help remember, think of the etymology: homophones have the same sound (the Greek phonos), homographs have the same spelling (Greek graphein), and homonym comes from the Greek word meaning «name» (onyma).
NOT pronounced like the front of a ship.
There are many aspects of the English language that might be described as tricky, or even vexatious. Among these are the large number of words that are spelled differently but which sound the same. Or all the words which are spelled the same but don’t sound the same at all. Or the fact that there is a single word which describes these two very different types of words. Welcome to homophones, homographs, and homonyms.
Homophones vs. Homographs vs. Homonyms
Here is the simplest explanation we can give for each of these words:
Homophones are words that sound the same but are different.
Homographs are words that are spelled the same but are different.
Homonyms can be homophones, homographs, or both.
Here is a slightly less simple explanation for each of these words:
Homophones are words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling. These words may be spelled differently from each other (such as to, too, and two), or they may be spelled the same way (as in quail meaning ‘to cower’ and quail meaning a type of bird).
Homographs are words that are spelled alike but are different in meaning or derivation or pronunciation. Sometimes these words sound different (as in the bow of a ship, and the bow that shoots arrows), and sometimes these words sound the same (as in quail meaning ‘to cower’ and quail meaning a type of bird).
Homonym may be used to refer to either homophones or to homographs. Some people feel that the use of homonym should be restricted to words that are spelled alike but are different in pronunciation and meaning, such as the bow of a ship and the bow that shoots arrows.
Tricks for Keeping them Apart
If you would like to distinguish between these words but have trouble remembering their differences, etymology can be of assistance. All of these words are formed with the combining form homo-, meaning “one and the same; similar; alike,” and each has an additional root that sheds light on the word’s meaning. Homophone comes from the Greek -phōnos (meaning “sounding”); homograph is from the Greek graphein (“to write”); homonym is from the Greek onyma (meaning “name”).