Homophones in English

English has so many sets of words with the same pronunciation but different spellings, it can get pretty confusing.  Learn about many of the homophones in American English.

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Video Transcript:

At least a couple of times a week I get an email or comment from someone wondering “What’s the difference between ‘deer’ and ‘dear’?”  Or something similar.  And at least some of you know, there is no difference in the pronunciation.  They are homophones.  In this American English pronunciation video, we’re going to go over what homophones are, and a long list of them.  You’ll probably even learn some new words.

English is not a phonetic language.  That means there is not a direct relationship between letters and sounds.  So you can have two different words with different spellings that are pronounced exactly the same.  These are called homophones, and there are a lot in American English.

When I was in Paris with my friend Sara, she said something about the bridge with locks.  It’s a famous bridge, though I believe they have since had to remove some or all of the locks.  But she said something about this bridge and my mind went to a different word, ‘lochs’, a narrow bay or body of water.  It makes sense, bridge, bay.  Then my mind went to ‘lox’ – salmon.  Again, it kind of makes sense:  bridge, water, salmon. But then I realized she meant this ‘locks’.  And we had a good laugh.

Normally with homophones, the context is clear enough that there is no doubt which word you mean.

In this video we are going to go over an incredibly long list of homophones, some involving very common words.  Some of them may surprise you, and chances are some of the words will be new to you.  If any words are unfamiliar, right them down and look up the meaning.     

ad / add

aid / aide

air / heir / err

aisle / isle / I’ll – note the contraction will usually be reduced.  Then, instead of sounding like ‘aisle’, it will sound like ‘all’

allowed / aloud

allowed / aloud

ant / aunt – note A-U-N-T can also be pronounced ‘aunt’, but it is most commonly pronounced ‘ant’.

arc / ark

assent / ascent

assistance / assistants

ate / eight

aural / oral

away / aweigh – Anchors aweigh!

aye / eye

bail / bale

bait / bate

ball / bawl

band / banned

bard / barred

bare / bear

baron / barren

base / bass

be / bee

beach / beech

beat / beet

beau / bow

bell / belle

berry / bury

billed / build

berth / birth

bite / byte

blew / blue

bloc / block

boar / bore

board / bored

boarder / border

bode / bowed

bolder / boulder

born / borne

bough / bow [ow]

bread / bred

brake / break

brewed / brood

brews / bruise

bridle / bridal

broach / brooch

browse / brows

but / butt

buy / by / bye

cache / cash

callous / callus

cannon / canon

canvas / canvass

capital / capitol

carat / carrot / caret / karat

carol / carrel

cast / caste

cede / seed

ceiling / sealing

cell / sell

cellar / seller

censor / sensor

cent / scent / sent

cents / scents / sense

cereal / serial

cession / session

chance / chants

chased / chaste

cheap / cheep

chews / choose

chic / sheik

chilly  / chili

choral / coral

chute / shoot

chord / cord

cite / sight / site

clause / claws

click / clique

close / clothes – though you don’t have to drop the TH in ‘clothes’, most native speakers do.

coarse / course

colonel / kernel

complement / compliment

coo / coup

coop / coupe

core / corps

correspondence / correspondents

council  / counsel

creak / creek

crews / cruise

cue / queue

currant / current

curser / cursor

cymbal / symbol

dam / damn

days / daze

dear / deer

defused / diffused

desert (abandon) / dessert –The first word here can either be DEH-sert or dee-ZERT.  Don’t desert me!  I’d love more dessert.

dew / do / due

die / dye

disburse / disperse – this one is interesting.  The consonant B and P are not the same, but they sound the same here. The P, unvoiced, often sounds more like a voiced consonant, the B, when it’s in the middle of a word.

disburse / disperse

doe / dough

draft / draught

dual / duel

earn / urn

ewe / you / yew

eye / I

fair / fare

faze / phase

feat / feet

find / fined

fir / fur

flair / flare

flea / flee

flew / flu / flue

flour / flower

flocks / phlox

for / four / fore – of course, ‘for’ is reduced in sentences to ‘fer’.  I made this for you!

foreword / forward

forth / fourth

foul / fowl

friar / fryer

gait / gate

gene / jean

gild / guild

gilt / guilt

gnu / knew / new

/ ɡɔrd, ɡoʊrd, ɡʊərd /

gored / gourd

/ ɡəˈrɪl·ə /

gorilla / guerilla

/ ɡreɪt /

grate / great

/ ɡris /

grease / Greece

/ ɡroʊn /

groan / grown

/ ɡes /

guessed / guest

/ heɪl /

hail / hale

/ heər /

hair / hare

/ hɔl /

hall / haul

/   / hæv /

halve /  have

/ ˈhæŋ·ər /

hangar / hanger

heɪ

hay / hey

hil

heal / heel / he’ll – the contraction “he’ll” will usually be reduced in a sentence.  Then it can sound like ‘hill’.  He’ll / hill.

hɪr

hear / here

hɜrd

heard / herd

hid

heed / he’d

hɜrts

hertz / hurts

hju

hew / hue / Hugh

hɑɪ

Hi / high

hɑɪər

higher / hire

hɪm

him / hymn

hɔrd

hoard / horde

hɔrs

hoarse / horse

hoʊl

hole / whole

holey / holy / wholly

hoes / hose

hoʊld

hold / holed

hostel / hostile

hour / our – ‘hour’ is a  noun.  That’s a content word, so it will be stressed in a sentence.  ‘Our’, on the other hand is usually unstressed, and will sound more like ‘our’.  Our— our— He’s our uncle.  From this perspective, they’re not homophones.

idle / idol

illicit / elicit

ɪn

in / inn

instance / instants

intense / intents

its / it’s

jam / jamb

knead / kneed / need

knight / night

knit  / nit

knot / not

know / no

knows / nose

leɪ

lay / lei

leach / leech

lid

lead / led (EH)

leak / leek

lean / lien

leased / least

lessen / lesson

levee / levy

liar / lyre

lie / lye

lieu / Lou

Links / lynx

load / lode

loan / lone

locks / lox / lochs

loot / lute

low / lo

made / maid

mail / male

main / mane / Maine

Maize / maze

mall / maul

manner / manor

marry / merry / Mary – Now, some people will say these are all pronounced differently.  It depends on your region.  I pronounce them all the same.

Marshal / martial

massed / mast

meat / meet / mete

medal / meddle – This pair of homophones  actually sound just like this pair of homophones: metal / mettle, because the Flap T, which comes between vowel sounds, and sounds just like the D between vowel sounds.  This makes homophone pairs that aren’t even listed here, like ‘madder’, ‘matter’.    

medal / meddle

Might / mite

mince / mints

mind / mined

miner / minor

missed / mist

moan / mown

mode / mowed

moose / mousse

mɔːrn /  literary

morn / mourn

muscle / mussel

mustard / mustered

naval / navel

nay / neigh

none / nun

oar / or / ore

ode / owed

oh / owe

one / won

overdo / overdue

overseas / oversees

pail / pale

pain / pane

pair / pare / pear

palate / palette / pallet

passed / past

patience / patients

pause / paws

pea / pee

peace / piece

peak / peek / pique

peal / peel

pearl / purl

pedal / peddle

and let’s throw ‘petal’ in the there because of the Flap T.

peer / pier

per / purr

pi / pie

plait / plate

plain / plane

pleas / please

plum / plumb

pole / poll

pore / pour

pray / prey

presence / presents

prince / prints

principal / principle

profit / prophet

rack / wrack

rain / reign / rein

raise / rays / raze

rap / wrap

rapped / rapt / wrapped

read / red

rid / read / reed – Did you notice R-E-A-D was in the last TWO homophone pairs, pronounced differently?  That’s called a heteronym.  One word is spelled the same as another word, but it’s pronounced differently and has a different meaning.

real / reel

reek / wreak

rest / wrest

retch / wretch

review / revue

right / rite / write

ring / wring

road / rode / rowed

roam / Rome

Roe / row

role / roll

rut / root / route

rose / rows

rote / wrote

rough / ruff

rung / wrung

rye / wry

sail / sale

scene / seen

scull / skull

sea / see

seam / seem

seas / sees / seize

serf / surf

sew / so / sowshear / sheer

shear / sheer

stake / steak

stationary / stationery

steal / steel

step / steppe

stile / style

straight / strait

suite / sweet

surge / serge

tacks / tax

tacks / tax

taught / taut

tea / tee

team / teem

tear / tier [TEER]

their / there / they’re – Usually THEIR and THEY’RE are reduced in a sentence and sound like ‘thur’.

theirs / there’s

threw / through

thrown / throne

thyme / time

tic / tick

tide / tied

to / too / two – This is the full pronunciation of TO.  It’s usually reduced in a sentence to ‘te’, or ‘de’.  I’ll post a link to a video on this at the end of the video.

toad / towed

toe / tow

trussed / trust

vain / vane / vein

vale / veil

vary / very – Mary /  marry  /  merry, in some regions these will be pronounced differently.  I pronounce them the same.

vial / vile

wade / weighed

wail / whale

waist / waste

wait / weight

waive / wave

ware / wear / where

way / weigh / whey

ways / weighs

weak / week

we’ll / wheel – This is a full, clear pronunciation of the ‘we will’. We’ll.  Usually, it’s reduced in a sentence to ‘wull’.

weather / whether

we’d / weed

we’ve / weave

wet / whet

which / witch

while / wile

whine / wine – These last three pairs compare WH words with words that don’t start with WH.  Some people pronounce WH differently – I have a video on that.  Check it out at the end of this video or in the description below.

who’s / whose

wood / would

yoke / yolk

yore / your / you’re – YOUR and YOU’RE usually reduce so they sound something more like ‘yer’.

Wow.  If you’re still watching this video, you must really love homophones.  That was an incredibly long list.  There were a lot of very common words on it.  There are also word combinations that can form homophone phrases, like “letter” and “lead her”.  Because we usually drop the H in ‘her’ and link it to the word before, these phrases sound the same.  Check out the video I made on homophone phrases by clicking in the description below.

Also, a lot of contractions were on this list.  Here is a link to a video on contractions.  These links are also in the description below.

I hope this helps shed some light on what a homophone is.  We’ve got a lot of them!

If you’re new to Rachel’s English, welcome.  I have over 500 videos to help you speak better American English on my YouTube channel.  Click here to visit my channel and subscribe.  Or, see this playlist to get started with my videos.  The link is also in the description below.

And I have a great ebook – 290 pages with two and a half hours of audio.  This book details my method for learning American English pronunciation.  It organizes hundreds of my online videos for a path, start to finish, to help you speak beautifully and naturally.  Click here or in the description below for more information and to purchase a copy.  You’ll get free updates of the book for life.

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.

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