The third part in our series of confusing words – homophones – words that have the same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings.
Common homophones
air - atmosphere
ere - before
heir - one who inherits property
aisle - a passage
I’ll - contraction of I will
isle – island
buy - purchase
by - near, through
bye - goodbye
capital - punishable by death
capital - chief city
capitol – US building
cent - penny coin
scent - an odour
sent - past tense of send
Chile – a country in South America
chili - bean stew
chilly - frosty
cite - quote
site - location
sight - view
desert - to abandon
desert - dry land
dessert - after-dinner treat
dew - morning mist
do - operate
due – payable
for - on behalf of
fore - front
four - 4
holey - full of holes
holy - divine
wholly – entirely
sew - connect with thread
so - as a result
sow - plant
their - belonging to them
there - at that place
they’re - they are
to - toward
too - also
two - the number 2
wear – attire
wear – evidence of use
where - question word
Homophones are easily confused when talking but are more obvious when written down. Because they have different meanings, you can often work out what they are supposed to mean. Separately, there are also words that can be mis-heard, or because of an accent, misunderstood, but don’t be shy to ask for clarification.
Don’t worry too much about the classifications, most English people wouldn’t know the terminology either! It’s more important to see the differences in the words themselves.
Watch out for the next part of the series! And listen carefully to see if you can hear any subtle differences in pronunciation when these words are used.
You can see part one of our confusing words series here