List of commonly confused homonyms
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This is a list of commonly confused homonyms including both homophones — words with the same pronunciation — and homographs — words with the same spelling.
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English
Some words are not fully homophonous, and other are homophones only in certain dialects.
- accept: tolerate
except: everything but
- add: put together with
ad: short for "advertisement"
- allowed: permitted
aloud: audibly
- allot: to distribute, allocate
a lot: much; many (a lot of)
- allusion: indirect reference
elusion: evasion
elution: separation by washing
illusion: a distortion of sensory perception
- bare: naked, exposed; very little (bare necessities)
bear: as a noun, a large mammal (e.g. American Black Bear); as a verb, to carry something ("to bear arms"), to endure ("I can't bear it"), or to give birth to (bear fruit)
- boy: a male adolescent or child; an exclamation "oh boy"
buoy: (noun) a floating marker in the sea; (verb, often "buoy up") to keep afloat, to sustain or encourage (the soldiers were buoyed up by letters from home) (pronounced boy in the UK, but in the US is either homophonous with "boy" or pronounced with two syllables to rhyme with "chewy")
bhoy: a house servant for families in India (borrowed from the English word "boy")
- bow: (rhymes with 'cow'): The front section of a ship or boat; a gesture made by bending forward at the waist
bough: (rhymes with 'cow') A tree branch, especially a large or main branch.
bow: (rhymes with 'go'): A weapon made of a curved stick whose ends are connected by a string, used for shooting arrows; a type of knot with two loops
- bridal: pertaining to a bride (bridal gown, bridal suite)
bridle: (noun) part of a horse's tack around its neck and head; (verb) to appear offended or proud
- capital: punishable by death (capital crime); upper-case letter; the principal town or city (Paris is the capital of France); wealth, money (capital gains tax), as an exclamation: "excellent"
Capitol: the home of the Congress of the United States and some other legislatures
- carry: to move while supporting
Carrie: a woman's name, pet form of Caroline, French feminine form of Carolus, Charles, from the Germanic name Karl, which was derived from a Germanic word which meant "man". Also, name of first published Stephen King novel.
Kerry: a surname, from the name of the Irish county County Kerry, which means "Ciar's people" in Gaelic. Also, surname of John Kerry, 2004 American Democratic presidential candidate.
- caught: past tense of "catch"
cot: a small, collapsible bed
- chord: group of musical notes; anything that can be "struck" (It struck a sensitive chord)
cord: rope; long electrical line; vertebral column
cored: having the inside cut out, like an apple
cawed: past tense of "to caw" - to make a raucous noise
- choux (pronounced as shoe): plural of chou, as used in choux pastry
shoe: footwear
shoo: exclamation used for scaring things away
- content: noun. something contained in a package
content: noun. or adj. satisfied, happy
- compliment: a praising or flattering remark given to someone; to give such a remark
complement: something that completes something else; to complete (something)
- discreet: means tactful or diplomatic
discrete: means separate or distinct
- do: conduct or carry out something
do (to rhyme with doe) / doh: the first note of the solfege scale
doe: a female deer; also female of various other species (by extension)
d'oh!: an annoyed grunt
dough: a moistened mass of flour used to make bread; slang term for money
- effect: ramification: cause and effect; sound effect (as a noun); bring about (effect change) (as a verb)
affect: have an effect on; pretentiously display (affect a British accent); emotion (in psychology and psychiatry).
- fa / fah: the fourth note of the solfege scale
far: distant (In non-rhotic dialects, these are homonyms.)
- fairy: imaginary small person with special powers (often homophonous with "ferry" in the US)
ferry: boat for carrying people or vehicles short distances on water
- faze: to temporarily stop or shock (It didn't even faze them)
phase: a stage through which one goes
- flaw: defect (homonymous with floor in non-rhotic dialects)
floor: a level; lower surface of a room; the area of a legilsative building members speak from, so "to take/hold the floor"; to knock to the ground; to confound someone
flor: a yeasty growth that forms on sherry after fermentation.
- formerly
formally (These are not homonyms to most speakers of English, but are homonyms in some non-rhotic dialects, including "Received Pronunciation".)
- gnaw: to bite or chew on persistently
nor: negates the last member of a series of negated items
- hair: an outgrowth of the epidermis in mammals (e.g. human facial hair); similar structures on plants
hare: (noun) a swift, long-eared mammal which, along with rabbits, forms the family Leporidae; (verb) to dash or sprint ("I hared around the kitchen")
Herr: the title meaning "Mr." for a man from Germany or Austria
- hay: grass cut and dried for animal feed
hay: the choke of an artichoke
hey: an exclamation used to draw attention, "Hey! Over here!"; a greeting
hey or hay: a kind of country dance
heigh: in the phrase "heigh-ho" expressing weariness or disappointment
Hay: the surname of William Howard Hay, creator of the Hay diet; a place in New South Wales
Haye: a place in Cornwall - hei: as in hei-tiki
- here: this place (opposed to there)
hear: sense with the ears; also in the phrase "Hear! Hear!" for strong agreement
- high: opposite of low; elevated, far above the ground; under the influence of drugs
hi: a greeting; shortened from "high" as part of hi-fi or el-hi
hie: to speed or hurry somewhere, "hie thee to France"
hi or heigh: part of the phrase "hi-ho" in the song "Hi Ho Silver Lining", or "heigh-ho" in the movie lyric "heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's off to work we go"
jai: as in jai alai
- hoard: to accumulate and store up as much of something as one can
horde: large group of warriors, mob
hoared: old, mouldy, fusty
whored: past tense of "to whore" - to act as a prostitute
hawed: past tense of haw - equivocate
- imminent
imanent (Some speakers (perhaps 10%) of USA-English also pronounce eminent like these two.)
- its: belonging to it (analogous to my, your, his, her, our, their)
it's: contraction for "it is" (analogous to I'm, you're, he's, she's, we're, they're) or "it has" (analogous to I've, you've, he's, she's, we've, they've)
- key: instrument used to open locks; a guide to symbols, especially on maps; the essential element "the key to his success"; a range of musical notes "try it in a lower key"; a button or lever on piano or computer keyboards
key: a low island or sandbank, the Florida Keys
quay: pronounced as key in the UK, as key, kay or kway in the US; a wharf, a structure built out into water for the ease of loading and unloading vessels
cay: a West Indian word for an island, as in the novel The Cay
ki: another name for the Hawai'ian plant ti
- lama: priest (for example the Dalai Lama)
llama: camelid mammal
- lead: pronounced to rhyme with "seed", to guide or serve as the head of
lead: pronounced to rhyme with "head", a heavy metal
led: the past tense of "lead"
leed: a copper kettle; a cauldron - lede: the opening in a piece of journalist's copy (also spelled "lead")
- leek: a vegetable of the onion family which is the national emblem of Wales
leak: a hole which allows a gas or liquid to escape; confidential information sent to journalists to expose some issue (the leak came from within the White House itself); slang for urination
Leek: places in England and the Netherlands
- lock: a mechanical device for securing doors or canals; also the act of using such a device (verb); a tuft of human hair
Lok: alternative name for Loki, the Norse god of mischief
Locke: the surname of early liberal philosopher John Locke
- mantle (disambiguation): one of the layers of the Earth; a cloak (by metaphorical extension, special position or role held)
mantel: over the fireplace
- marry: to wed
merry: happy
Mary: a woman's name, from Maria, probably a variation of the Hebrew name Miriam, meaning "sea of bitterness"
- medal: an award to be strung around the neck
meddle: stick one's nose into others' affairs
metal: shiny, malleable element or alloy like silver, gold, iron, zinc, tin, copper, bronze or brass
mettle: toughness, guts
Note that the first two of these are only homonyms of the second two in North American English.
- me: personal pronoun
me: a concept in Sumerian mythology
me / mi: the third note of the solfege scale
- morning: the time between midnight and midday
mourning: period of grieving after the death of a relative, friend or public figure, clothing worn at this time (e.g. mourning dove)
- past: time before now (past, present and future); beyond; after the hour (three past nine = 9:03); former (in her past life)
passed: past tense of "to pass"
- parse: to break down into component parts (e.g. for analysis)
pars: the acts of scoring a par in golf; also plural of "par"
parrs: plural of "parr" - a young salmonid fish
- piece: portion
peace: opposite of war; quietness (peace of mind) or silence (speak now or forever keep your peace)
- peak: tip, height, to reach its highest point, a mountain
peek: to take a brief look, usually through a thin aperture (sneak peek)
pique: fit of anger; to incite (pique one's interest)
- paw: a mammal's foot
poor: impoverished; also, to be pitied (Poor Peter!), also bad (poor quality)
pore: a hole in the skin; to go over with great focus (pore over)
pour: to run out (said of liquid); to rain heavily
pa: short for papa
par: common level; equality
- principal: can be a noun or an adjective, a person of primary importance
principle: a noun: it cannot be an adjective, a fundamental rule or law
- rack: a long, open container with a rectangular frame (spice rack); one's upper body; to torture (verb) or an instrument of torture (noun)
wrack: to destroy, a shipwreck, commonly found in the phrase "to go to wrack and ruin"
Note: In British English, only the first spelling should be used in the phrase "to rack one's brains"; in American English the second spelling is also acceptable in this context; the meaning of "rack" in this phrase is related to the rack as an instrument of torture
- rain: water falling from the sky
reign: to rule; hold the position as monarch
rein: the strip used to control a horse; anything that restrains; to restrain anything by pulling in its irrational exuberance (pull the reins in on)
Rayne: a city in Louisiana
- raise: to increase
raze: to destroy, to obliterate: "the town was razed to the ground by the fire"
rays: beams of light or energy (sun's rays, X-rays, gamma rays, etc.); cartilaginous fishes
Reyes: as in Point Reyes
- ray: a beam of light
ray: a type of fish
ray / re: the second note of the solfege scale
re: with reference to
Re / Ra(h): an Egyptian god.
rah: a short form of "hurrah"
- reek: to stink
wreak: to bring about (wreak havoc)
reak: a rush (plant), or a prank
- rest: sit down without doing anything active; the remainder
wrest: to struggle to extricate something (wrest it out of his hands)
- retch: to vomit
wretch: a person in a miserable condition; a person of bad character
- right: the direction opposite to left; correct; something a person must have his/her choice to do respected (the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness); straight or directly (went right to his heart)
write: to put down in letters; send a letter to (Write me soon!)
rite: ritual, ceremony (rites of passage)
wright: connected with other words to mean someone who constructs (playwright, scenewright, wheelwright)
- ring: piece of jewelry; make a sound like a bell or telephone, or tinnitus in the ears; anything shaped like a circle or torus (like the rings in a bathtub); sound familiarly like (that rings of fascism)
wring: strangle (wring his neck), squeeze and twist (wring the water out of laundry)
- row (rhymes with "go"): to pull a boat through the water with oars
row (rhymes with "cow"): a fuss or a fight
roe: fish eggs (such as caviar); a deer (the roebuck)
Roe: pseudonym used in court cases for women having or seeking abortions (most famously in Roe v. Wade)
rho: letter of the Greek alphabet equivalent to R
Ro: a constructed language based on categorization
- seem: appear to
seam: a join; a line of stitches that holds two pieces together
- shear: trim, remove; strain
sheer: absolute, very steep; swerve
- sight: vision
site: place, grounds; place in cyberspace
cite: quote or make a reference to; write a ticket
- so: likewise; therefore; to such a degree
so or soh: the fifth note of the solfege scale
sow (pronounced as so): to scatter seeds
sew (pronounced as so): join together or stitch
sew (pronounced as sue): to drain (as the root of sewage)
Sioux (pronounced as sue): Native American tribe
sou (pronounced as sue): a French five-centime coin; any small amount of money
sous (pronounced as sue): French for under, as in sous-chef - a subordinate chef
sue: to prosecute or petition for
xu (pronounced as sue): a Vietnamese monetary unit, 1/100 of a dong
sow (to rhyme with cow): a female pig
- soul: spirit; mellow African-American music style
sole: single and only; the surface of the bottom of the foot; flat fish like flounder, petrale or halibut
Seoul: the capital of South Korea
Sol: the solar system we live in
- tea: a tree and the drink produced from its leaves
tee: a support for the ball in golf
ti / te: the seventh note of the solfege scale
ti: a Polynesian tree similar to the taro
- tear (rhymes with fear): a drop of fluid which falls from the eyes when weeping or crying
tear (rhymes with fare): rip; to run extremely fast, jolt, bolt, dart
tare: dry measure of grains; payment in wheat; adjustment to a weighing device
tier: layer or level
- their: belonging to them
there: that place (opposed to here); denotes existence of something
they're: contraction for "they are"
- theirs: belonging to them
there's: contraction for "there is" or "there has"
- therefore: thus, ergo (I think therefore I am)
therefor: for the aforementioned thing or purpose; for that (similar to thereof, thereby, therefrom, thereagainst, etc.)
- to: towards or headed for; in order to; used before the infinitive of verbs
too: also; excessively
two: the number 2
tui: the parson bird
tout: French word meaning "all", as in mange-tout
- vary: make a change in; undergo change
very: adverbial intensifier
- waste: to use up for something pointless; sewage (toxic waste)
waist: the line that goes across the middle of your body
weighest: archaic second person singular of the verb "to weigh" (thou weighest)
- weather: the meteorological conditions; to survive some wear and tear
whether: if something is so or not
wether: a male sheep (The bellwether was the ram who led the herd, and carried a bell around his neck to signal the front of the herd coming.)
- wet: to dampen; damp
whet: to sharpen (a knife, one's appetite)
- which
witch
- whose: belonging to whom
who's: contraction for "who is" or "who has"
- your: belonging to you (analogous to my, his, her, its, our, their)
you're: contraction for "you are" (analogous to I'm, he's, she's, it's, we're, they're)
yore: time long ago, a bygone age ("the days of yore") - yaw: swerve (usually of a ship or a spacecraft)
Finnish
- anna: give!
Anna: a girl's name - hanki: snowdirt
hanki: get! - hauista: from searches
hauista: muscle
hauista: from pikes - huopaa: felt, blanket
huopaa: back the oars! - kadun: I regret
kadun: of a street - kuusi: six
kuusi: fir-tree
kuusi: your moon - laita: edge
laita: arrange!, put! - lakka: varnish
lakka: cloudberry
lakka: pigeon house - norja: willowy
Norja: Norway - palaa: burn
palaa: (he) comes back - pala: piece
pala: burn! - panna: put
panna: excommunication - pitää: hold
pitää: like
pitää: need to - puola: bobbin, coil
puola: the Polish language
Puola: Poland - satu: fairy tale
satu: hurt!
Satu: a girl's name - suo: swamp
suo: (he) grants - turkki: fur, fur coat
Turkki: Turkey - vaara: danger
vaara: hill - voi: butter
voi: (he) can/could, (he) is/was able to
voi: oh - vuori: mountain
vuori: lining
There are some sentences made up by homonyms:
- Haetaan lakkaa satamasta, kun lakkaa satamasta. (Let's get varnish from the harbour, when it stops to rain.)
- Mikä on Annankadun vastakohta? -En anna enkä kadu. (What is the opposite of Anna Street? -I don't give nor regret.)
- Voi äiti, joulukuusi palaa! (Oh mother, christmas tree is burning! / Butter mother, christmas six is coming back!) (Usually told in Swedish: Smör mamma, julsexen kommer tillbaka!)
French
- bar: bar (saloon)
bar: bass (fish)
Japanese
- 萩村 - Hagimura, a person's name
- 荻村 - Ogimura, a person's name
Russian
- брак (brak): marriage
брак (brak): spoilage, defect
- есть (yest'): there is/there are; am/is/are
есть (yest'): to eat
- ключ (klyuch): key
ключ (klyuch): spring (source of water), source
- коса (kosa): plait (referring to hair)
коса (kosa): scythe
коса (kosa): spit (landform)
- лук (luk): onion
лук (luk): bow (weapon)
- мат (mat): floor-mat
мат (mat): checkmate
мат (mat): mat (language)
- мир (mir): peace
мир (mir): world
- пол (pol): floor (lower surface of a room)
пол (pol): sex (male or female)
пол- (pol-): prefix meaning "a half of"
- рысь (rys'): lynx (cat)
рысь (rys'): trot
- соль (sol'): salt
соль (sol'): G (note)
See also
- Misspelling
- List of English homographs
- List of frequently misused English words
- List of common misspellings in English
External links
- An English Homophone Dictionary (http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/homofone.htm)