Homophones are words that sound the same even though they’re spelt differently and mean different things. Getting them right can be tricky, but it’s worth it in the end.
The reason why homophones are important is not just to do with the general need to spell correctly. Many people think getting them wrong is a ‘worse’ mistake than simply mis-spelling a word because it means that you don’t really know what you’re doing. Anyone can make a spelling mistake, but using completely the wrong word somehow seems a lot worse. That may not sound fair, but that’s just how a lot of people think, so it’s worth learning the common homophones so you don’t get caught out.
Here’s a list of the main ones:
| Spellings | Meanings |
| a lot/allot | much/distribute |
| ad/add | notice/put together |
| ads/adds/adze | notices/puts together/type of axe |
| aid/aide | help/assistant |
| ail/ale | trouble (verb)/beer |
| air/heir | atmospheric gas/inheritor |
| aisle/isle/I’ll | corridor/island/I will |
| all ready/already | everything set/by a certain time |
| all together/altogether | everyone in the same place/absolutely |
| all/awl | totally/piercing tool |
| allowed/aloud | permitted/out loud |
| alter/altar | change/church table |
| ant/aunt | insect/parent’s sister or brother’s wife |
| arc/ark | part of circle/Biblical boat |
| assent/ascent | agreement/rise |
| assistance/assistants | help/helper |
| ate/eight | consumed/8 |
| aural/oral | to do with hearing/to do with mouths |
| away/aweigh | off/up (eg anchors aweigh) |
| ay/aye/eye/I | yes/yes/organ of sight/1st person |
| bail/bale | scoop water out/jump out |
| bait/bate | food on hook/hold (eg bated breath) |
| ball/bawl | sphere/ |
| band/banned | group/illegal |
| bard/barred | poet/banned |
| bare/bear | naked/tolerate or grizzly |
| baron/barren | lord/arid |
| base/bass | foundation/low note |
| be/bee | exist/flying insect |
| beach/beech | sandy area/type of tree |
| beat/beet | hit/beetroot |
| beau/bow | male admirer/bend down or front |
| bell/belle | musical instrument/pretty girl |
| berry/bury | fruit/inter |
| berth/birth | sleeping place/arrival of baby |
| billed/build | invoiced/construct |
| bite/byte | nibble/unit of data |
| blew/blue | forced air/colour |
| bloc/block | group of countries/cuboid |
| boar/bore | wild pig/boring person |
| board/bored | flat object/weary |
| boarder/border | lodger/edge |
| bode/bowed | imply/curved |
| bolder/boulder | braver/rock |
| born/borne | created/tolerated |
| bough/bow | branch/bend down or front of ship |
| boy/buoy | male child/floating marker |
| brake/break | slow down/shatter |
| breach/breech | gap/part of gun |
| bread/bred | food made with yeast/brought up |
| brewed/brood | fermented/family |
| brews/bruise | ferments/scar |
| bridle/bridal | leather strap/to do with brides |
| broach/brooch | open (a question)/piece of jewellery |
| browse/brows | look through/hair above the eyes |
| but/butt | although/water tank |
| buy/by/bye | purchase/by means of/goodbye |
| cache/cash | hidden hoard/notes and coins |
| callous/callus | heartless/blister |
| cannon/canon | gun/collection of artistic works |
| canvas/canvass | sail fabric/ask questions of |
| capital/capitol | upper case or city/government building |
| carat/carrot/caret/karat | weight/vegetable/arrow/share of gold |
| carol/carrel | song/cubicle |
| cast/caste | thrown/social class |
| cede/seed | give up/reproductive unit |
| ceiling/sealing | roof/making watertight |
| cell/sell | part of body/exchange for money |
| cellar/seller | basement/person selling |
| censor/sensor | ban (film etc)/measurement device |
| cent/scent/sent | US penny/perfume/dispatched |
| cents/scents | US pennies/perfumes |
| cereal/serial | breakfast dish/TV show |
| cession/session | giving up/period of course |
| chance/chants | luck/songs |
| chased/chaste | pursued/like a virgin |
| cheap/cheep | inexpensive/bird sound |
| chews/choose | nibbles/select |
| chilly/chilli | cold/hot food |
| choir/quire | group of singers/unit of paper |
| chord/cord | group of notes/string |
| chute/shoot | disposal passage/take shot at goal |
| cite/sight/site | quote/seeing/location |
| clause/claws | paragraph/talons |
| coarse/course | rough/track or route |
| colonel/kernel | army rank/stone in fruit |
| complement/compliment | go well with/say something nice |
| coo/coup | sound of dove/revolution |
| core/corps | centre/army unit |
| correspondence/correspondents | letters/letter-writers |
| council/counsel | governing body/advice |
| councillor/counsellor | governor/advisor |
| creak/creek | whine/stream |
| crews/cruise | teams/voyage |
| cue/queue | snooker tool/line of people waiting |
| currant/current | dried fruit/electric flow |
| cymbal/symbol | musical instrument/icon |
| dam/damn | river barrier/damnation |
| days/daze | 24-hour periods/confuse |
| dear/deer | expensive/type of mammal |
| defused/diffused | made safe/circulated |
| desert/dessert | sandy zone/pudding |
| dew/do/due | water on grass/finish/owed |
| die/dye | expire/colour (verb) |
| discreet/discrete | not talkative/separate |
| doe/dough/doh | female dear/unbaked bread/oh, no |
| done/dun | finished/grey-brown |
| draft/draught | practise writing/on tap (eg beer) |
| dual/duel | in two parts/fight with swords etc |
| earn/urn/ern or erne | make money/vase/type of bird |
| ewe/you/yew | female sheep/2nd person/type of tree |
| faint/feint | lose consciousness/fake attack |
| fair/fare | just/food |
| fated/feted | destined/celebrated |
| faun/fawn | rural god/beige or young deer |
| faze/phase | disturb/stage |
| feat/feet | achievement/plural of foot |
| find/fined | seek/told to pay money |
| fir/fur | type of tree/animal hide |
| flair/flare | talent/bullet making bright light |
| flea/flee | type of insect/run away |
| flew/flu/flue | past tense of fly/influenza/chimney |
| flocks/phlox | herds/type of plant |
| flour/flower | ingredient for bread/plant |
| for/four/fore | to the benefit of/4/in front |
| fort/forte | castle/speciality |
| forth/fourth | forwards/4th |
| foul/fowl | disgusting/birds |
| friar/fryer | monk/pan |
| gait/gate | way of walking/door outside |
| gene/jean | DNA unit/trousers |
| gild/guild | cover in gold/organisation |
| gilt/guilt | covered in gold/having done wrong |
| gored/gourd | holed/fruit or water container |
| gorilla/guerrilla | type of ape/freedom fighter |
| grate/great | fireplace/grand |
| grease/Greece | lubrication/a country |
| groan/grown | moan/past tense of grow |
| guessed/guest | past tense of guess/invitee |
| hail/hale | celebrate/healthy |
| hair/hare | strands growing on head/rabbit |
| hall/haul | room/pull |
| hangar/hanger | storage for aircraft/hook in wardrobe |
| hay/hey | dried grass/oy |
| heal/heel/he’ll | make well/back of foot/he will |
| hear/here | listen/in this place |
| heard/herd | past tense of hear/group of animals |
| heed/he’d | pay attention to/he would or he had |
| hertz/hurts | frequency unit/causes pain |
| hew/hue/Hugh | cut/colour/a name |
| hi/high | hello/raised |
| higher/hire | more raised/rent |
| him/hymn | a pronoun/religious song |
| hoard/horde | collection/mass of people |
| hoarse/horse | rough (of voices)/an animal |
| hoes/hose | garden tools/tube |
| hold/holed | keep or carry/past tense of hole |
| hole/whole | space/entire |
| holey/holy/wholly | with holes/sacred/completely |
| hour/our | 60 minutes/a pronoun |
| humorous/humerus | funny/arm bone |
| idle/idol | lazy/religious statue |
| illicit/elicit | illegal/draw out |
| in/inn | inside/hotel |
| instance/instants | example/moments |
| intense/intents | fierce/purposes |
| it’s/its | it is/belonging to it |
| jam/jamb | fruit spread/door frame |
| kernel/colonel | core/army rank |
| knap/nap | crest/doze |
| knead/kneed/need | mix dough/hit with knee/require |
| knight/night | warrior/dark time |
| knit/nit | fit together/egg of louse |
| knot/not | tied rope/negative |
| know/no/Noh | be aware of/negative/type of drama |
| knows/nose | is aware of/facial feature |
| laid/lade | past tense of lay/load ship |
| lain/lane | past participle of lay/alley |
| lay/lei | place/flower necklace |
| leach/leech | leak/blood-sucking worm |
| lead/led | heavy metal/past tense of lead |
| leak/leek | drop out/vegetable |
| leased/least | past tense of lease/superlative of less |
| lee/lea | shadow of wind/meadow |
| lessen/lesson | make less/teaching session |
| levee/levy | embankment/tax |
| liar/lyre | person who lies/musical instrument |
| license/licence | permit (verb)/permission |
| lichen/liken | mould/compare |
| lie/lye | falsehood/alkali solution |
| links/lynx | connections/wild cat |
| load/lode | put into/vein of metal in ground |
| loan/lone | lending/single |
| locks/lox | secures/smoked salmon (American) |
| loot/lute | money/musical instrument |
| made/maid | created/young woman |
| mail/male | post/masculine |
| main/mane/Maine | chief/hair/state in USA |
| maize/maze | corn/labyrinth |
| manner/manor | way/lord’s house |
| mantel/mantle | mentalpiece/coat |
| marshal/martial | army rank/to do with war |
| massed/mast | brought together/upright post on ship |
| maybe/may be | perhaps/might be |
| meat/meet/mete | type of food/get together/distribute |
| medal/meddle | award/interfere |
| metal/mettle | shiny material/spirit |
| might/mite | may/tiny spider |
| mince/mints | ground beef/plural of mint |
| mind/mined | brain/dug up |
| miner/minor/mynah | digger/junior/type of bird |
| missed/mist | past tense of miss/fog |
| moan/mown | groan/past participle of mow |
| mode/mowed | way/past tense of mow |
| moose/mousse | elk/foam |
| morn/mourn | morning/regret |
| muscle/mussel | part of body/sea creature |
| mustard/mustered | spicy dressing/broughted together |
| naval/navel | to do with the navy/belly button |
| nay/neigh | no (dated)/sound of horse |
| none/nun | not one/female monk |
| oar/or/ore | blade/alternatively/metal source |
| ode/owed | poem/due |
| oh/owe/o | ah/have a debt of/oh (poetic) |
| overseas/oversees | foreign/manages |
| pail/pale | bucket/faint |
| pain/pane | ache/window panel |
| pair/pare/pear | couple/shave/type of fruit |
| palate/palette/pallet | part of mouth/artist’s tray/platform |
| passed/past | past tense of pass/in the past |
| patience/patients | tolerance/people in hospital |
| pause/paws | break/animal hands and feet |
| pea/pee | vegetable/urinate |
| peace/piece | harmony/bit |
| peak/peek/pique | summit/look quickly/annoyance |
| peal/peel | sound of bells/take skin off |
| pearl/purl | precious stone/knitting stitch |
| pedal/peddle | foot lever/sell |
| pedalled/peddled | cycled/sold |
| peer/pier | look carefully/jetty |
| per/purr | for each/sound of a cat |
| pi/pie | 3.14/dish topped with pastry |
| plain/plane | unexciting/2D object |
| pleas/please | requests (noun)/if it pleases you |
| plum/plumb | type of fruit/measure water depth |
| pole/poll | rod/election or survey |
| pore/pour | concentrate on/flow |
| practice/practise | rehearsal/rehearse |
| pray/prey | talk to God/victim |
| presence/presents | being somewhere/gifts |
| prince/prints | son of monarch/printed photographs |
| principal/principle | main/rule of conduct |
| profit/prophet | money made/religious seer |
| rack/wrack | wire tray/shipwreck |
| rain/reign/rein | water from clouds/rule/control strap |
| raise/rays/raze | lift/plural of ray/destroy |
| rap/wrap | hit/pack up (eg a present) |
| rapped/rapt/wrapped | past tense of rap/spellbound/past tense of wrap |
| read/red | past tense of read/scarlet |
| read/reed | study/type of plant |
| real/reel | genuine/cylinder for fishing line etc |
| reek/wreak | smell bad/cause |
| rest/wrest | relax/wrench away |
| retch/wretch | vomit/poor soul |
| review/revue | look over/stage performance |
| right/rite/write | correct/ritual/form Leopardtters |
| ring/wring | sound of bell/squeeze out water |
| road/rode/rowed | street/past tense of ride/past tense of row |
| roe/row | female deer/use oars |
| role/roll | part in play/type of bread |
| root/route | part of plant/roads to take |
| rose/rows | type of flower/tiers |
| rote/wrote | repetition/past tense of write |
| rough/ruff | coarse/Elizabethan collar |
| rung/wrung | past tense of ring/squeezed water out |
| rye/wry | cereal plant/mocking |
| sail/sale | canvas propulsion/selling |
| scene/seen | situation/past tense of see |
| scull/skull | row alone/head of skeleton |
| sea/see | ocean/be aware of |
| seam/seem | sewn connection/appear |
| seas/sees/seize | oceans/is aware of/grab |
| serf/surf | agricultural worker/waves |
| sew/so/sow | connect with thread/thus/plant |
| shear/sheer | cut/complete |
| shoe/shoo | footwear/chase away |
| side/sighed | edge/past tense of sigh |
| sighs/size | breathes out/dimensions |
| slay/sleigh | kill/sled |
| sleight/slight | deceptive skill/faint |
| soar/sore | rise/painful |
| soared/sword | past tense of soar/bladed weapon |
| sole/soul | only/spirit |
| some/sum | a few/total |
| son/sun | male child/star in the sky |
| staid/stayed | unadventurous/past tense of stay |
| stair/stare | step/look hard |
| stake/steak | wooden post/joint of meat |
| stationary/stationery | motionless/writing materials |
| steal/steel | run off with/metal compound |
| step/steppe | stair/European plains |
| stile/style | fence steps/manner |
| straight/strait | not bending/narrow strip of water |
| suite/sweet | hotel rooms/sugary |
| summary/summery | brief account/to do with summer |
| surge/serge | rush/type of cloth |
| tacks/tax | nails/levy |
| tail/tale | back end/story |
| taught/taut | past tense of teach/tight |
| tea/tee | meal/golf ball holder |
| team/teem | group of players/swarm |
| tear/tier | teardrop/row |
| tern/turn | type of bird/go round a corner |
| their/there/they’re | belonging to them/in that direction/they are |
| theirs/there’s | the one belonging to them/there is |
| threw/through | past tense of throw/in and out of |
| thrown/throne | past participle of throw/royal chair |
| thyme/time | type of herb/progress of days or years |
| tic/tick | habit/mark (if correct) |
| tide/tied | flow of water/past tense of tie |
| to/too/two | towards/as well/2 |
| toad/towed | frog/past tense of tow |
| toe/tow | part of foot/pull |
| told/tolled | past tense of tell/rang |
| trussed/trust | bound (with rope)/belief |
| vain/vane/vein | proud/fin/artery |
| vale/veil | valley/lace face covering (for brides etc) |
| vial/vile | test tube/evil |
| wade/weighed | walk in water/past tense of weigh |
| wail/whale | howl/type of ocean mammal |
| waist/waste | middle of body/use carelessly |
| wait/weight | delay or stay/mass |
| waive/wave | give up/breaker |
| ware/wear/where | pottery/put on clothes/which place |
| way/weigh/whey | manner/measure weight/part of milk |
| ways/weighs | manners/measures weight |
| we/wee | pronoun/urination or little |
| weak/week | feeble/seven days |
| weather/whether | climatic conditions/if |
| we’d/weed | we would or we had/unwanted plant |
| we’ll/wheel | we will or we shall/round component |
| wet/whet | liquid/sharpen |
| we’ve/weave | we have/make cloth |
| which/witch | pronoun/wizard |
| while/wile | as/ruse or cunning plan |
| whine/wine | whimper/alcoholic grape drink |
| who’s/whose | who is or who has/of whom the |
| wood/would | tree material/conditional marker |
| yoke/yolk | part of plough/yellow part of egg |
| yore/your/you’re | former times/belonging to you/you are |
| you’ll/Yule | you will or you shall/Christmas |