Homophones – I hear ya!
Do homophones get you all confused and flustered? Do you know what you want to say, but don’t know which is the correct word to use?
Homophones are words that sound the same but are vastly different in meaning. And sometimes they even look the same until you realise there is only a one or two letter difference between each set of homophones.
Below is a list of the most common homophones, but this list is by no means complete:
accept, except
affect, effect
aloud, allowed
altar, alter
ate, eight
banned, band
bare, bear
bridle, bridal
brake, break
cell, sell
cents, sense
capital, capitol
deer, dear
die, dye
discreet, discrete
doe, dough
for, four, fore
forth, fourth
hear, here
hole, whole
its, it’s
led, lead, lede
lie, lye
pair, pear
passed, past
peal, peel
peek, peak, pique
need, knead
night, knight
rain, rein, reign
rapt, wrapped
right, rite, write, wright
seam, seem
sheer, shear
sheik, chic
stationery, stationary
tents, tense
their, they’re, there
toe, tow
too, to, two
wait, weight
wanton, wonton
weather, whether
your, you’re
If you are unsure about which word to use pop over to www.dictionary.com and do a quick search on your two (or three) variations and select the correct word. It is important to choose the correct word otherwise your reader could become confused.
For two near-complete lists of homophones visit:
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/homofone.htm
http://www.taupecat.com/personal/homophones
To recap: a homophone is two or more words that are pronounced the same but are different in meaning or spelling.
Kristy Taylor is a syndicated freelance journalist with articles and short stories strewn across all forms of media. She has written and published numerous books, and is the executive editor of KT Publishing, which encompasses several web sites. For free listings of short story competitions visit http://www.shortstorycompetitions.com
To contact Kristy, email her at
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