Homonyms are two or more words that have the same sound or spelling but differ in meaning.

Homophones—which
means "same sounds" in Latin—are two or more words, such as knew and new or meat and meet, that are pronounced
the same but differ in meaning, origin, and often spelling. Homographs, meanwhile, are words that have the same
spelling but differ in origin, meaning, and sometimes pronunciation, such as the verb bear (to carry or endure) and the
noun bear (the animal with a shaggy coat).

Words that fall under any of these three categories often confuse readers and writers alike. But they need not perplex
you: Understanding the meaning of these three grammatical terms and, especially, being able to recognize them can
help clear up any confusion. A list of some of the most common homonyms, homophones, and homographs can help
any writer use these words correctly and any reader or listener recognize them when they occur.

Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs

Here is a listing of some the most common homonyms, homophones, and homographs. The first column contains
homonyms in alphabetical order, while the second and third columns list the corresponding homonym, homophone, or
homograph as applicable.

accept - take in except - other than

ad - advertisement add - join, combine

advice - guidance advise - recommend

aid - assist, assistance aide - one who gives assistance

ail - to suffer poor health ale - a beverage

air - atmosphere ere - before heir - one who inherits property

aisle - a passage I'll - contraction of I will isle - island

allusion - an indirect reference illusion - false appearance

altar - table in a church alter - to change

ate - past tense of eat eight - the number 8

bail - to clear water bail - release of a prisoner bale - a large bundle

band - a ring, something that band - a group banned - prohibited

bare - uncovered bear - large animal bear - support, yield

bases - starting points bases - four stations on a baseball field basis - a basic principle

beat - to strike, overcome beat - exhausted beet - a plant with red roots

blew - past tense of blow blue - the color

bread - baked food item bred - produced

buy - purchase by - near, through bye - goodbye

capital - punishable by death capital - chief city capitol - building where legislature
meets

ceiling - top of a room sealing - setting, fastening

cell - compartment sell - vend

cent - penny coin scent - an odor sent - past tense of send

cereal - breakfast food serial - sequential

chews - gnaws with teeth choose - to select

Chile- country in South America chili - bean stew chilly - frosty

cite - quote site - location sight - view

close - opposite of open clothes - clothing

coarse - rough course - path, procedure

complement – enhance; go compliment - praise

conduct - behavior conduct - to lead

council - committee counsel - guidance

creak - squeak creek - stream of water

crews - gangs cruise - ride on a boat

days - plural of day daze - stun

dear - darling deer- woodland animal

desert - to abandon desert - dry land dessert - after-dinner treat

dew - morning mist do - operate due - payable

die - cease to exist dye - color

discreet - tactful discrete - distinct

doe - female dear dough - uncooked bread

dual - double duel - battle

elicit - draw out illicit - illegal

eminent - distinguished imminent - soon

ewe - female sheep you - second-person personal pronoun

eye - sight organ I - first-person personal pronoun

facts - true things fax - a document transmitted via telephone

fair - equal fare - price

fairy - elflike creature with wings ferry - boat

faze - impact phase - stage

feat - achievement feet - plural of foot

find - to discover fined - charged a penalty

fir - type of tree fur - animal hair

flea - small biting insect flee - run

flew - did fly flu - illness

flour - powdery, ground up grain flower - blooming plant

for - on behalf of fore - front four - three plus one

forth - onward fourth - number four

foreword - introduction to a book forward - advancing

gene - a chromosome jean - fabric; pants

gorilla - big ape guerrilla - warrior

groan - moan grown - form of grow

hair - head covering hare - rabbit-like animal

hall - passageway haul - tow

halve - cut in two parts have - possess

hay - animal food hey - interjection to get attention

heal - mend heel - back of foot

hear - to listen here - at this place

hi - hello high - up far

hoarse - croaky horse - riding animal

hole - opening whole - entire

holey - full of holes holy - divine wholly - entirely

hoarse - rough voice horse - animal

hour - sixty minutes our - belonging to us

knead - massage need - desire

knew - did know new - not old

knight - feudal horseman night - evening

knot - tied rope not - negative

know - have knowledge no - opposite of yes

lead - metal led - was the leader

leased - past tense of lease least - the minimum

lessen - make smaller lesson - class

loan - lend lone - solitary

made - did make maid - servant

mail - postage male - opposite of female

marry - to wed merry - very happy

material materiel

meat - animal protein meet - encounter

mince - to chop finely mints - type of sweet

morning - a.m. mourning - remember the dead

none - not any nun - woman who takes special vows

oar - boat paddle or - otherwise ore - mineral

oh - expression of surprise or awe owe - be obligated

one - single won - did win

overdo - do too much overdue - past due date

pail - bucket pale - not bright

peace - calm piece - segment

peak – highest point peek - glance

patience - being willing to wait patients - person treated in a hospital or by a

pear - a type of fruit pair - two (usually matching)

plain - ordinary plane - flight machine plane; flat surface

pole - post poll - survey

poor - not rich pour - make flow

pray - implore God prey - quarry

principal - most important principle - belief

rain – water from sky rein - bridle

rap - tap wrap - drape around

read - past tense of the verb to red - color

real - factual reel - roll

right - correct; not left write - scribble

ring - encircle wring - squeeze

road - street rode - past tense of ride

role - function roll - rotate

rose - flower rows - lines

sail - move by wind power sale - bargain price

scene - landscape seen - viewed

sea - ocean segment see - observe with eyes

seam - joining edge seem - appear

sew - connect with thread so - as a result sow - plant

soar - ascend sore - hurt place

sole - single soul - essence

son - male child sun - the star that lights the solar system

some - a few sum - amount

stair - step stare - to look at steadily

steal - swipe steel - alloy

suite - large room in a hotel sweet - the opposite of sour

tail - animal’s appendage tale - story

their - belonging to them there - at that place they’re - they are

threw - past tense of throw through - passing from one place to another

to - toward too - also two - the number 2

vary - differ very - wail - howl

wail - howl whale - huge sea mammal

waist - area below ribs waste - squander

wait – kill time weight - measurable load

war - battle wore - did wear

warn - caution worn - used

way - path weigh - measure mass

we - us wee - tiny

weak - not strong week - seven days

wear - to don attire where - question word

weather - climate whether - if

which - that witch - sorcerer

wood - material coming from would - conditional auxiliary

your - belonging to you you’re - you are

Practice Using Homonyms, Homophones, and Homographs

Complete each of the following sentences by filling in the blank with the correct word. You'll find the answers at the end
of the exercise. To heighten interest, all of the sentences are quotes from various authors' writings in books and
magazine articles published over the years. Feel free to use the previous table to help you if you get stumped.

1. “He simply sat down on the ledge and forgot everything _____ [accept or except] the marvelous mystery.”—
Lawrence Sargent Hall

2. "I live in the Oakland Hills in a tiny house on a street so windy you can’t drive more than ten miles per hour. I
rented it because the _____ [ad or add] said this: 'Small house in the trees with a garden and a fireplace. Dogs
welcome, of course.'"— Pam Houston

3. "Francis wondered what _____ [advice or advise] a psychiatrist would have for him."— John Cheever

4. "The _____ [aid or aide] gets out of the way, picking her skirt out of the rubble of children at her feet."—
Rosellen Brown

5. "He seemed to want to recapture the cosseted feeling he'd had when he'd been sick as a child and she would
serve him flat ginger _____ [ail or ale], and toast soaked in cream, and play endless card games with him, using
his blanket-covered legs as a table."— Alice Elliott Dark

6. "He sat down and leaned forward, pulling the chair's rear legs into the _____ [air, ere, or heir] so that the
waitress could get by."— Stanley Elkins

7. "[T]he stewardess was moving down the _____ [aisle, I'll, or isle], like a trained nurse taking temperatures in a
hospital ward, to see that they were all properly strapped in for the take-off."— Martha Gellhorn

8. "Mrs. Parmenter laughed at his _____ [allusion or illusion] to their summer at Mrs. Sterrett's, in Rome, and gave
him her coat to hold."— Willa Cather

9. "In the long years between, she had fashioned many fine dresses—gowned gay girls for their conquests and
robed fair brides for the _____ [altar or alter]."— Mary Lerner

10. "On a Saturday morning soon after he came to live with her, he turned over her garbage while she was at the
grocery store and _____ [ate or eight] rancid bacon drippings out of a small Crisco can."— Pam Durban
 11. "The barn was bigger than a church, and the fall's fresh hay _____ [bails or bales] were stacked to the roof in the
side mows."— John Updike

12. "Her two spare dresses were gone, her comb was gone, her checkered coat was gone, and so was the mauve
hair-_____ [band or banned] with a mauve bow that had been her hat."— Vladimir Nabokov

13. "Without the shelter of those trees, there is a great exposure—back yards, clotheslines, woodpiles, patchy sheds
and barns and privies—all _____ [bare or bear], exposed, provisional looking."— Alice Munro

14. "This was the time when outfields were larger than they are today and well-hit balls would roll for a long
time, giving runners ample time to round the _____ [bases or basis] for a home run."— Deidre Silva and Jackie
Koney

15. "The conductor had his knotted signal cord to pull, and the motorman _____ [beat or beet] the foot gong with
his mad heel."— Saul Bellow

16. "Nancy held the cup to her mouth and _____ [blew or blue] into the cup."— William Faulkner

17. "A pigeon landed nearby. It hopped on its little red feet and pecked into something that might have been a dirty
piece of stale _____ [bread or bred] or dried mud."— Isaac Bashevis Singer

18. "He was wearing a new hat of a pretty biscuit shade, for it never occurred to him to _____ [buy, by, or bye]
anything of a practical color; he had put it on for the first time and the rain was spoiling it."— Katherine Anne
Porter

Answers to the Exercise

1. except 2. ad 3. advice 4. aide 5. ale 6. air 7. aisle 8. allusion 9. altar 10. ate 11. bales 12. band 13. bare 14. bases 15.
beat 16. blew 17. bread 18. buy

Sources

Hall, Lawrence Sargent. "The Ledge." The Hudson Review, 1960.

Houston, Pam. "Waltzing the Cat." Washington Square Press, 1999, New York.

Cheever, John. "The Country Husband." The New Yorker, 1955.

Brown, Rosellen. "How to Win." The Massachusetts Review, 1975.

Dark, Alice Elliott. "In the Gloaming." The New Yorker. 1994.

Elkins, Stanley. "Criers and Kibitzers, Kibitzers and Criers." Perspective, 1962.

Gellhorn, Martha. "Miami-New York." The Atlantic Monthly, 1948.

Cather, Willa. "Double Birthday." "Uncle Valentine and Other Stories." University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Neb., 1986.

Lerner, Mary. "Little Selves." The Atlantic Monthly, 1915.

Durban, Pam. "Soon." The Southern Review, 1997.

Updike, John. "My Father's Tears and Other Stories." Knopf, 2009, New York.

Nabokov, Vladimir "That in Aleppo Once..." The Atlantic Monthly, 1944.

Munro, Alice. "Meneseteung." The New Yorker, 1989.

Silva, Deidre, and Koney, Jackie. "It Takes More Than Balls: The Savvy Girls' Guide to Understanding and Enjoying
Baseball." Skyhorse, 2008, New York.

Bellow, Saul. "A Silver Dish." The New Yorker, 1979.

Faulkner, William. "That Evening Sun Go Down." The American Mercury, 1931.

Singer, Isaac Bashevis. "The Key." "A Friend of Kafka." Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979, New York.

Katherine Anne Porter, "Theft." The Gyroscope, 1930.