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.

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 (sometimes "alot"): much; many (a lot of)

• allusion: indirect reference
  elusion: evasion
  elution: separation by washing
  illusion: a distortion of sensory perception

• bare: as a verb, to expose, to remove cover; as a noun, 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 Irish.

• caught: past tense of "catch"
  cot: a small, collapsible bed. Predominantly in North America, see cot-caught merger.

• 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)

• cue: a rod or stick used to play the game billiards or pool
  queue: a line of people waiting

• descent: a downwards path
  dissent: disagreement

• 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

• dyeing: artificially coloring
  dying: passing away

• 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).

• elicit: to call forth, draw out, or provoke (a reaction, for example)
  illicit: not sanctioned by custom or law; unlawful

• ensure: to make certain, to guarantee
  insure: to purchase financial protection, as in an insurance policy.
  assure: to assuage the concern of another person.

• 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: in the past
  formally: in a formal way
  (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

• gorilla: the largest of the great apes.
  guerrilla: a small combat group.

• 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 weaving figure in English country dance, morris dance and contra dance
  heigh: in the phrase "heigh-ho" expressing weariness or disappointment

• heir: one who inherits
  air: the mixture of gases present in a planet's atmosphere

• 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: soon to occur
  immanent: existing only in the mind, or acting in the material world
  (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 Hawaiian plant ti

• lam: US slang: "on the lam" means "on the run"
  lamb: a young sheep

• lama: priest (for example the Dalai Lama)
  llama: camelid mammal

• law: legal rule
  lore: old story often not written down
  la: the sixth note of the solfege scale

• 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

• 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

• mail: items sent through the postal service; armor
  male: opposite of female

• 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)

• muscle: one of the parts of the body used to move
  mussel: a bivalve popular as seafood

• 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
  peke: a breed of dog
  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
  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 / 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

• some: a few
  sum: what you get when you add numbers; short for summarize (sum up)

• 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

• stationery: office supplies
  stationary: as not mobile

• tail: appendage of most mammals
  tale: a story

• 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
  see also the disambiguation page TI

• 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

• 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

• while: during a period of time
  wile: deceitful cunning

• whore: a prostitute
  horror: intense fear
  hoar: white with age

• whose: belonging to whom
  who's: contraction for "who is" or "who has"
  hoos: plural of hoo, a small hill or promontory (as in Sutton Hoo)

• 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 feminine name
• hanki: snowdirt
  hanki: get!
• hauista ^[1]: from searches
  hauista: muscle (partitive case)
  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
  panna: slang word which roughly translates to "to fuck" in English
• 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
  suo: grant!
• turkki: fur, fur coat
  Turkki: Turkey
• vaara: danger
  vaara: hill
• voi: butter
  voi: (he) can, (he) is able to
  voi: oh
• vuori: mountain
  vuori: lining

Nuances are easily formed with such words:

• Haetaan lakkaa satamasta, kun lakkaa satamasta. (Let's get varnish from the harbour when it stops raining.)
• Voi äiti, joulukuusi palaa! (Oh mother, the christmas tree is on fire / your December returns) (Usually told in Swedish: Oj mamma, julsexen kommer tillbaka!)

Notes

1. ↑  Hauista as in from searches is pronounced /'hɑuⁱstɑ/ ("HA-ooy-sta"), if it is from pikes or muscle, the pronunciation is /'hɑ^u:istɑ/ ("HOW-is-ta)

French

• bar: bar (saloon)
  bar: bass (fish)

Japanese

• 萩村 - Hagimura, a person's name
• 荻村 - Ogimura, a person's name

• 橋 - hashi bridge
  箸 - hashi chopsticks

• 雨 - ame rain
  飴 - ame candy

• 蛸 - tako octopus
  凧 - tako kite

• 白 - shiro white
  城 - shiro castle

• 花 - hana flower
  鼻 - hana nose

 

Russian

• брак /brak/: marriage
  брак /brak/: spoilage, defect

• есть /jestʲ/: there is/there are; am/is/are
  есть /jestʲ/: to eat

• ключ /klʲuʨ/: key
  ключ /klʲuʨ/: spring (source of water), source

• коса /kʌ'sa/: plait (referring to hair)
  коса /kʌ'sa/: scythe
  коса /kʌ'sa/: 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/: gender
  пол- /pol-/: prefix meaning "a half of"

• рысь /rɨsʲ/: lynx
  рысь /rɨsʲ/: trot

• соль /solʲ/: salt
  соль /solʲ/: G (note)

See also

• Misspelling
• List of English homographs
• List of homophones
• List of frequently misused English words
• List of common misspellings in English

External links

• An English Homophone Dictionary
• Homophone Translator