Have you ever been confused by words that sound the same but have completely different meanings? These words are called homophones, and they can be tricky, even for native speakers! In this blog post, we’ve put together a list of 150 homophones you need to know to improve your understanding of English. You’ll learn how to differentiate these words, their meanings, and examples to help you use them correctly in everyday conversations
Homophones are words that sound the same when pronounced but have different meanings and spellings.
- ate – eight
- be – bee
- buy – by
- cell – sell
- dew – due
- eye – I
- flour – flower
- heal – heel
- here – hear
- know – no
- knight – night
- leak – leek
- one – won
- pair – pear
- plain – plane
- read – reed
- right – write
- sea – see
- son – sun
- stair – stare
- steal – steel
- tail – tale
- to – too – two
- waist – waste
- weak – week
- bare – bear
- bored – board
- break – brake
- capital – capitol
- creak – creek
- days – daze
- dear – deer
- feat – feet
- find – fined
- for – four
- groan – grown
- hair – hare
- him – hymn
- hole – whole
- hour – our
- its – it’s
- key – quay
- mail – male
- meat – meet
- none – nun
- oar – or
- pale – pail
- peace – piece
- principal – principle
- rain – reign
- root – route
- sail – sale
- scene – seen
- site – sight
- sole – soul
- stationary – stationery
- their – there – they’re
- threw – through
- waive – wave
- wear – where
- addition – edition
- aloud – allowed
- arc – ark
- assent – ascent
- bail – bale
- ball – bawl
- band – banned
- beach – beech
- berry – bury
- bloc – block
- blue – blew
- boar – bore
- born – borne
- braid – brayed
- bread – bred
- brews – bruise
- buy – by – bye
- canvas – canvass
- chased – chaste
- chilly – chili
- choral – coral
- coarse – course
- complement – compliment
- council – counsel
- cymbal – symbol
- dear – deer
- desert – dessert
- discreet – discrete
- dual – duel
- ewe – you
- fare – fair
- faze – phase
- find – fined
- flair – flare
- foreword – forward
- gait – gate
- gild – guild
- grate – great
- hangar – hanger
- hear – here
- heroin – heroine
- hoard – horde
- idle – idol
- ingenious – ingenuous
- intense – intents
- kernel – colonel
- knew – new
- knit – nit
- laps – lapse
- lead – led
- loan – lone
- loot – lute
- marshal – martial
- mind – mined
- miner – minor
- morning – mourning
- muscle – mussel
- naval – navel
- passed – past
- pearl – purl
- peer – pier
- plain – plane
- pole – poll
- pray – prey
- principal – principle
- profit – prophet
- rack – wrack
- reel – real
- right – rite
- ring – wring
- road – rode
- root – route
- sauce – source
- seam – seem
- shoe – shoo
- side – sighed
- soar – sore
- sole – soul
- some – sum
- steal – steel
- tide – tied
- vain – vein
- vial – vile
- waist – waste
- warn – worn
- weak – week
- weather – whether
- which – witch
- wood – would
- yoke – yolk
Example Sentences: using Homophones
Ate – Eight
- She ate all the cookies before dinner.
- There are eight crayons in the box.
2. Be – Bee
- I want to be a better writer.
- A bee landed on the flower.
3. Buy – By
- I plan to buy a new backpack tomorrow.
- She walked by the park on her way home.
4. Cell – Sell
- A prisoner was locked in his cell for hours.
- They decided to sell their old car.
5. Dew – Due
- Morning dew sparkled on the grass.
- The library books are due tomorrow.
6. Eye – I
- My left eye hurts from staring at the screen too long.
- I need to study for my exam today.
7. Flour – Flower
- Add some flour to the dough to make it less sticky.
- She placed a beautiful flower in the vase.
8. Heal – Heel
- Time can heal a broken heart.
- She hurt her heel while hiking.
9. Here – Hear
- Please wait here until I return.
- Can you hear the birds chirping outside?
10. Know – No
- I know how to solve the math problem.
- There is no milk left in the fridge.
FAQs About Homophones
- What are homophones in English?
Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings, like pair and pear. - Why is learning homophones important?
Understanding homophones helps avoid confusion in writing and speaking, making your English more accurate. - Can you give examples of common homophones?
Sure! Examples include there (a place) and their (possessive), or sea (ocean) and see (to look). - How can I remember the difference between homophones?
Use context clues in sentences, and practice with examples to memorize their meanings and spellings. - Are there homophones in other languages too?
Yes, many languages have homophones, but English has a particularly large number due to its complex vocabulary.