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.

As of old: Be EMPOWERED and EXCEL!!