What Are Homophones?

What Are Homophones?

Homophones are words that have exactly the same sound (pronunciation) but different meanings and (usually) spelling.

For example, the following two words have the same sound, but different meanings and spelling:

hour

our

In the next example, the two words have the same sound and spelling, but different meanings:

bear (the animal)

bear (to carry)

Usually homophones are in groups of two (our, hour), but very occasionally they can be in groups of three (to, too, two) or even four. If we take our "bear" example, we can add another word to the group"

bare (naked)

bear (the animal)

bear (to tolerate)

"Our bear cannot bear to be bare at any hour."

The word homophone is made from two combining forms:

• homo- (from the Greek word "homos", meaning "same"

• -phone (from the Greek word "phone", meaning "voice" or "sound"

You will see many other English words using one or other of these combining forms.



Common Homophones List

The following list of 70 groups of homophones contains only the most common homophones, using relatively well-known words. These are headwords only. No inflections (such as third person singular "s" or noun plurals) are included.

air heir

aisle isle

ante- anti-

eye I

bare bear bear

be bee

brake break

buy by

cell sell

cent scent

cereal serial

coarse course

complement compliment

dam damn

dear deer

die dye

fair fare

fir fur

flour flower

for four

hair hare

heal heel

hear here

him hymn

hole whole

hour our

idle idol

in inn

knight night

knot not

know no

made maid

mail male

meat meet

morning mourning

none nun

oar or

one won

pair pear

peace piece

plain plane

poor pour

pray prey

principal principle

profit prophet

real reel

right write

root route

sail sale

sea see

seam seem

sight site

sew so sow

shore sure

sole soul

some sum

son sun

stair stare

stationary stationery

steal steel

suite sweet

tail tale

their there

to too two

toe tow

waist waste

wait weight

way weigh

weak week

wear where

NB: In a few cases, a third homophone, although possible, has not been included for simplicity. Different varieties and accents of English may produce variations in some of these pronunciations. The homophones listed here are based on British English.



Minimal Pairs

Minimal pairs are words that vary by only a single sound, usually meaning sounds that students often get confused by like the “th” and “t” in “thin” and “tin”.

Minimal Pairs /b/ and /v/

Minimal Pairs /l/ and /r/

Minimal Pairs /əʊ/ and /ɔ:/

Minimal Pairs /b/ and /v/

Below are lists of words that vary only by one having the sound /b/ and the other the sound /v/. You can use this to practise the sounds or as a list of words to be careful to pronounce properly.

Useful practice for speakers of:

Japanese, Korean, Thai, Malay and Spanish

/b/ has the same mouth position as /p/, but using your voice. Try saying /p/ and then holding your neck to make sure that your voice is being used when you say /b/. There should be a sudden release of air as you say the sound, meaning that it is impossible to extend it.

/v/ has the same mouth shape as /f/, but using your voice. Put your top teeth on your bottom lip. It is possible to extend this sound for as long as you like.

If you are practising on your own, try saying both words and making sure your pronunciation of each is different, for example by looking at your mouth shape in the mirror.

Elementary

B V

bat vat*

beer veer*

berry very

best vest*

bowl vole*

Pre-Intermediate

ban van

bars vase*

boat vote

bow (v/n) vow*

bowels* vowels

burbs* verbs

gibbon* given

serb serve

Intermediate

bale* veil

bars vase

bent vent*

best vest

bet vet

Upper-Intermediate

bane* vain

bury very

bow (v/n) vow

lobes* loaves

rebel revel*

Advanced/Proficiency

bale veil

bane vein

bat vat

beer veer

bent vent

bid vid

bile vile

biz viz

bolt volt

bowels vowels

bowl vole

broom vroom

burbs verbs

curb curve

dribble drivel

dub dove

fibre fiver

gibbon given

jibe jive

lobes loaves

rebel revel

verb verve

n = noun, v = verb

* the meaning of the word is not important at this level, but it can still be used to contrast the pronunciation with the other word. For this reason, some of the words are given at two different levels, the second time being when the meaning is also useful.



Minimal Pairs /l/ and /r/

Below are lists of words that vary only by one having the sound /r/ and the other the sound /l/. You can use this to practise the sounds or as a list of words to be careful to pronounce properly.

Useful practice for speakers of:

most East Asian and Southeast Asian languages (e.g. Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Thai), and some African languages

/r/ is pronounced many different ways in various English-speaking countries and regions, so it is not particularly useful to ask students to base their pronunciation on what native speakers do with their mouths. As making a distinction is the most important thing, it is often better to exaggerate the differences between the two sounds. The descriptions below are therefore meant to be useful for students rather than an explanation of usual pronunciations.

/l/ is pronounced with a large flap of the tongue. The best way to make it clear that you aren’t pronouncing /r/ is to bend your tongue as far back as you can in your mouth, and flick it forward as you say /l/. (You can help control your tongue by holding one hand next to your mouth with your fingers in the same position as your tongue, and flick your fingers at the same time as your tongue.)

/r/ is totally unlike /l/ for English speakers. In fact, some people pronounce it much more like /w/. The best way of making the distinction is try to move your tongue as little as possible when making the sound. (You can use your hand to help in the same way as suggested with /l/, but this time keeping your hand still. It can also help to start with your top teeth just touching the back of your bottom lip.)

Elementary

alive arrive

belly* berry

blight* bright

blue brew*

blush* brush

flee* free

fly fry

lane* rain

led* red

lead* read

lice* rice

light right

load* road

long wrong

loom* room

lot rot*

play pray*

Pre-Intermediate

blew brew*

clash* crash

collect correct

glamour grammar

glass grass

lace* race

lamp ramp*

late rate*

law raw

led red

leader reader

lied* ride

lighter writer

lock rock

locker rocker

luck ruck*

lush* rush

Intermediate

clown crown

fleas* freeze

glow* grow

lack rack*

lair* rare

lake rake*

lamb ram*

lane rain

lather* rather

laze raise

lead read

leech* reach

lies rise

lip rip

list wrist

lob* rob

locket rocket

loot* root

lows rose

pilot pirate

Upper Intermediate

belly berry

blues bruise

blush brush

flee free

flees freeze

laid raid

lamp ramp

lank* rank

lap wrap

late rate

lay ray

lead red

leer* rear

lentil rental

lid rid

lot rot

loyal royal

play pray

Advanced/Proficiency

blacken bracken

blight bright

blew brew

clash crash

flea free

fleas freeze

gland grand

glow grow

jelly jerry

lace race

lack rack

lag rag

lagging ragging

lair rare

lake rake

lamb ram

lank rank

lash rash

lather rather

law raw

laze raze

lead reed

leek reek

leap reap

leech reach

leer rear

lib rib

lice rice

lick rick

light rite

limb rim

lime rhyme

link rink

lit writ

loam roam

loaves roves

lob rob

lobe robe

look rook

loom room

lute route

lope rope

lout rout

lubber rubber

luck ruck

lug rug

lump rump

lung rung

lush rush

lust rust

splat sprat

splint sprint

n = noun, v = verb

* the meaning of the word is not important at this level, but it can still be used to contrast the pronunciation with the other word. For this reason, some of the words are given at two different levels, the second time being when the meaning is also useful.

Minimal Pairs /əʊ/ and /ɔ:/

Below are lists of words that vary only by one having the sound /əʊ/ and the other the sound /ɔ:/. You can use this to practise the sounds or as a list of words to be careful to pronounce properly.

Useful practice for speakers of:

most languages

The sound of /əʊ/ (as in "O", "oh" and "owe") is a diphthong, meaning two vowel sounds blended into one. You should be able to see the mouth moving from one position to the other while making the sound, with the mouth becoming smaller and rounder. You can emphasize and control this by holding your hand in front of your mouth and bringing the fingers in towards each other as you move from the first part of the sound to the last part.

The sound of /ɔ:/ (as in "or" and "awe") is a single long sound. The mouth doesn’t move while making this sound, and you can pronounce it as long as you have breath.

Elementary

bowl ball

doe* door

foe* for four

go gore*

know no nor*

moaning* morning

mow* more

O or

so saw

Pre-Intermediate

boat bought

bode* board bored

bone born borne*

close claws*

doze* doors

drone* drawn

flow flaw* floor

foal* fall

folk fork

note nought

poke pork

road rode roared*

sew so saw sore

show sure

shown shorn*

snow snore*

stow* store

tote* taught

Intermediate

chose chores

coast coursed*

crow craw*

dome dorm

goal gall*

hole whole hall haul*

know no nor

low law

motor mortar*

owe or

roe* row raw roar*

toe tore tour

tone torn

Upper-Intermediate

code cord

cone corn

doze doors

drone drawn

foam form

go gore

hone horn

load lord

moan mourn

moaning morning mourning

mow more

oat ought

owed awed*

poach porch

quote quart

sew so saw soar sore

show shore sure

snow snore

Advanced

bode board bored

bone born borne

bow boar bore

choke chalk

close claws

coke cork

copes corpse

doe door

flow flaw floor

foe for fore four

goad gored

goal gall

ho hoe hoar whore

hole whole hall haul

hose whores

implode implored

joe jaw

know no gnaw nor

load lode lord

low law lore

moan morn mourn

mole maul

mow moor more

node gnawed

O owe oar

ode owed awed

pose pause paws

road rode roared

roe row raw roar

scone scorn

stoke stork

stow store

toad towed toured

tote taught taut tort

* the meaning of the word is not important at this level, but it can still be used to contrast the pronunciation with the other word. For this reason, some of the words are given at two different levels, the second time being when the meaning is also useful.





Alphabet Sounds

Sounds of the letters of the alphabet, as we say them A, B, C etc. This chart groups letters of the alphabet with similar sounds.

Notice that Z is known as "Zed" in British English and "Zee" in American English.





Tongue-Twisters

A tongue-twister is a sequence of words that is difficult to pronounce quickly and correctly. Even native English speakers find the tongue-twisters on this page difficult to say quickly. Try them yourself. Try to say them as fast as possible, but correctly!

A proper copper coffee pot.



Around the rugged rocks the ragged rascals ran.



Long legged ladies last longer.



Mixed biscuits, mixed biscuits.



A box of biscuits, a box of mixed biscuits and a biscuit mixer!



Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.

Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled pepper?

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper,

Where's the peck of pickled pepper Peter Piper picked?



Pink lorry, yellow lorry.



Red leather, yellow leather, red leather, yellow leather.



She sells sea-shells on the sea-shore.



The sixth sick Sheik's sixth sheep is sick.

[Sometimes described as the hardest tongue-twister in the English language.]



Swan swam over the pond,

Swim swan swim!

Swan swam back again -

Well swum swan!



Three grey geese in green fields grazing.



We surely shall see the sun shine soon.

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