Please note the difference between HOMOPHONES and HOMOGRAPHS:
HOMOPHONES are words that sound the same but have different meanings. Fo example, . . .
- wait (the verb) and weight (how heavy something is)
- they’re (they are) and their (belonging to them) and there (adverb of place)
HOMOGRAPHS are words that are written the same way, but pronounced differently.
Examples of HOMOGRAPHS include:
- to wind a clock but blowing wind.
- rose, the flower and rose, past tense of the verb to rise.
- book – something we read and book – to schedule something.
Included here are sets of commonly used and sometimes confused sets of homophones. To help you improve spelling skills, for each word listed, I have included the most common meanings focusing on:
- part of speech (sometimes)
- a very brief definition
- a sentence to further your understanding of the homophone word/s.
Please note that the following scenarios are the most commonly used cases; but as is quite common in our language, there are always exceptions!
1. write/right/rite
- right (adj.) means correct: The student gave the right answer to the math question.
- write (v.) is to make letters: Please write you name at the top of the page.
- rite (n) means a religious social custom or solemn ceremony or act: The religious rites were strictly followed.
2. road/rode/rod
- road (n.) is a driving surface: She had difficulties keeping her car on the slippery road.
- rode (v.) is past tense of ride: We rode the bus for thirty minutes to get across town.
- rod (n) is a thin straight bar of wood or metal: The walls were reinforced with steel rods.
3. sail/sale
- sail (v.) is to travel in a boat: We plan to sail across the bay.
- sale (n.) is a deal or transaction: The store had a special sale on blue jeans.
4. scene/seen
- scene (n.) is the place where an event occurs: A criminal sometimes returns to the scene of the crime.
- seen (v.) is past participle of see: I’ve never seen so many flowers!
5. soar/sore
- soar (v.) is to fly: An eagle can soar higher than many other birds.
- sore (adj.) means painful: My sprained knee is very sore.
6. sole/soul
- sole (adj.) means only: My dad was the sole survivor of the crash.
- sole (n.) is the bottom part of a foot or shoe: There’s a hole in the sole of my old boot.
- soul (n.) is the spiritual part, or character, of a person: Those old hymns always comfort my soul.
7. tail/tale
- tail (n.) is the rear part of an animal’s body: My dog wags its tail when he’s happy.
- tale (n.) is a story: One popular fairy tale is about a giant, a beanstalk and a boy named Jack.
8. threw/through
- threw (v.) is the past tense of throw: The kids threw the stones into the stream.
- through (prep.) means movement from one side to, or past, the other side: Let’s walk all the way through the dark tunnel together.
9. to/too/two
- to (prep.) means toward: We drove to the theatre.
- too (adv.) means also: Jimmy likes pizza, too.
- two (n.) is a symbol for 1 plus 1: Susan spun a two in the board game.
10. waist/waste
- waist (n.) is the middle of the body: The belt was too large for her small waist.
- waste (n.) is the discarded material: The factory’s waste products were dumped in the landfill.
11. weak/week/wick
- weak (adj.) means not strong: The young boy was too weak to lift the box of books.
- week (n.) is a seven-day period: The worker went on vacation for one week.
- wick (n) is a piece of string in the centre of a candle.
12. who’s/whose
- who’s (contr.) is short for who is or who has: Who’s been drinking my soda?
- whose (pron.) is the possessive form of who: Does anyone know whose coat is this one?
13. your/your’re
- your (pron.) is the possessive form of you: It’s your turn to go first.
- you’re (contr.) is the short form of you are: You’re the person I want to hire.
14. faint/feint
- faint means temporarily losing consciousness and the adjective . . .
- faint (adj) means lacking in brightness: Tad’s writing is too faint.
- A feint is a false attack made to distract the opponent from an even more fatal blow: It was just a brief feint on the opponent’s face.
15. hole/whole/hall
- A hole is an empty place or opening: A hole opened up in the backyard.
- Whole means complete or entire: I ate the whole pie.
- hall (n) is the room or space used for meetings, concerts or other events.
ALWAYS make it a habit to edit your work to avoid committing the HOMOPHONES mistakes.
Good luck in all your endeavours.
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