Homonyms - Homophones

The list below provides a homonym worksheet for each homonym pair (or in some cases list of 3) with definitions and example sentences. A homonym is defined as one of two or more words that have the same sound and often the same spelling but differ in meaning, such as too (also) and two (the number). This list focuses on the most important homonyms for English learners and does not include all homonyms.

Homonym List A-E
affect - effect
affect (V) - to change or influence something or someone
She wanted to affect the students in a way they’d never forget.

effect (N) - the result of a change or influence
The effect of the performance was stunning.

aisle - isle
aisle (N) - the walkway, as in a theatre
I quickly walked down the aisle and took my seat.

isle (N) - island
He grew up on the isle of Elba.

allowed - aloud
allowed - past tense of the verb ‘to allow’ - to permit
His mother allowed him to stay up late on Saturday.

aloud (ADV) - using the voice, not silently
She read the story aloud.

ate - eight
ate (V) - past tense of the verb ‘to eat’
She ate a quick lunch and returned to work.

eight - number - the number 8
I bought eight tickets to the concert.

ball - bawl
ball (N) - a round object used in games and sports
He took a ball to the beach to play with the children.

Bawl (V) - to cry (usually very hard)
Please don’t bawl! It’s not that bad.

bear - bare
bear (V) - to stand something
He can’t bear exams.

bare (ADJ) - naked, without clothing
He stood outside in the rain completely bare.

base - bass
base (N) - the bottom support of something
I think we need a new base for that lamp.

bass (N) - the lowest pitches in music, singer of the lowest pitches
I sang bass in the church choir.

billed - build
billed (V) - past tense of the verb ‘to bill’
She billed the clients for $4,000.

build (V) - to construct
They build houses in Portland, Oregon.

blew - blue
blew (V) - past tense of the verb ‘to blow’
She blew a lot of bubbles at her birthday party.

blue (ADJ) - a colour
Her house is painted blue.

board - bored
board (N) - a plan of wood
I used a board to cover the window.

bored (ADJ) - not interested
He was bored by the meeting.

break - brake
break (V) - to damage something
Unfortunately, I often break my toys!

brake (N) - stopping device on a vehicle
He used the brake to stop quickly.

buy - by- bye
buy (V) - to purchase
Do they often buy clothes in that shop?

by (PREP) - often used to express the agent in a passive sentence
The song was written by Hammersmith.

bye (N) - farewell
Bye! I’ll see you tomorrow.

capital - capitol
capital (N) -A town or city that is head of government
Olympia is the capital of Washington state.

capitol (N) - A building where the government meets
The capitol is a beautiful building.

cell - sell
cell (N) - a small room, usually in a prison
There are two prisoners per cell in that prison.

sell (V) - to provide for sale
They sell books and magazines.

cent - scent- sent
cent (N) - 1/100 of a dollar
One cent isn’t worth very much.

scent (N) - an aroma
The scent in the air is fabulous!

sent (V) - past tense of the verb ‘to send’
I sent you some pictures last week.

chance - chants
chance (N) - not on purpose
I saw Mary by chance in California.

chants (N: plural) - simple song or melody
We did some grammar chants in class last week.

chews - choose
chews (V) - third person present singular of the verb ‘to chew’
My daughter chews her food well.

choose (V) - to make a decision from amongst more than one
OK, I choose the red one.

close - clothes
close (V) - to shut
Please close the door when you come in.

clothes (N) - articles of clothing
He put on his clothes and left for work.

coarse - course
coarse (ADJ) - rough, not smooth
The fabric is rather coarse.

course (N) - a class in which a subject is studied
The English course will begin next week.

creak - creek
creak (V) - to squeak (make a high pitch sound)
The doors in the house all creak.

creek (N) - small stream
The creek winds through the beautiful valley.

days - daze
days (N) - plural of ‘day’
I work five days a week.

daze (N) - confused state
He walks around in a daze.

dear - deer
dear (ADJ) - beloved, often used to begin a letter
My dear Richard, you just don’t understand!

deer (N) - an animal (Bambi - irregular plural: deer)
We saw three deer on our hike in the mountains.

dew - do- due
dew (N) - light water condensation usually found in the morning
The grass was covered with dew.

do (V) - to perform
They usually do their homework immediately after school.

due (ADJ) - payable
The full payment is due by the end of the month.

Homonym List F-L
facts - fax
facts (N) - things objectively considered ‘true’
The facts pointed to Mr Smith as the criminal.

fax (N) - a document transmitted via telephone
I sent a fax to the office in Chicago.

fair - fare
fair (ADJ) - light skinned, of light complexion
She is fair with long blond hair.

fare (N) - cost of ticket (generally travel)
I paid fifteen dollars for the fare.

fairy - ferry
fairy (N) - a magic person or being
The tooth fairy brings $1 for each tooth.

ferry (N) - a boat that transports cars and other vehicles
We took the ferry to Sardinia last summer.

find - fined
find (V) - to discover
I often find coins at the beach.

fined (ADJ) - charged a penalty
He was fined $50 for illegal parking.

flour - flower
flour (N) - powdered grain used for cooking
I want to make some cookies. Could you pick up a bag of flour at the supermarket?

flower (N) - beautiful blooming part of a plant
That flower is beautiful!

for - four
for - preposition
I bought these for you.

four - number - 4
She wants to bring four friends with her to the party.

foreword - forward
foreword (N) - introduction to a book
Timothy Leary wrote the foreword to Ken’s book.

forward (ADJ) - advancing
We moved forward in the line.

gene - jean
gene (N) - a chromosome
The X gene is responsible for eye colour.

jean (N) - fabric
Jeans are made of jean.

grease - Greece
grease (N) - lubricant, fat
He put some grease on the wheel.

Greece - (PROP N) - the country
Greece is considered the birthplace of western philosophy.

groan - grown
groan (N) - low sound expressing displeasure
Students often groan when I announce a test.

grown (V) - past participle of the verb ‘to grow’
My daughter has grown quite a bit this year.

hair - hare
hair (N) - the collective strands on your head
She’s got long brown hair.

hare (N) - similar to a rabbit
He shot a hare while in the field.

hay - hey
hay (N) - dried grass often used as food for cattle, horses, etc.
We spent last week collecting hay from the fields.

hey - expression - shout
Hey! Watch out!

heal - heel
heal (V) - to cure a disease
Doctors heal thousands of patients a year.

heel (N) - the back part of the foot or shoe
I hurt my heel playing tennis.

hear - here
hear (V) - to listen
Did you hear what he said?

here (ADV) - at this place
Is this your book here?

hi - high
hi - salutation - Hello
Hi! How are you today?

high (ADJ) - tall, way up
Mount Rainier is extremely high.

hoarse - horse
hoarse (ADJ) - rough voice
Your voice is hoarse. Do you have a cold?

horse (N) - animal
Cowboy Tom had a horse named Joe.

hole - whole
hole (N) - round opening
There is a hole in the wall we need to repair.

whole (ADJ) - entire
He ate the whole pie!

hour - our
hour (N) - sixty minutes
It took one hour to finish the exercise.

our (POSS ADJ) - belonging to us
That’s our house on the corner.

knight - night
knight (N) - warrior from the middle ages
Arthur was a knight of the round table.

night (N) - evening to early morning
I went to bed late last night.

knot - naught - not
knot (N) - fastening in a cord
He tied a knot to secure the rope.

naught (N) - nothing
His efforts came to naught.

not (ADV) - in no way
It’s not her fault.

know - no
know (V) - to have knowledge
They didn’t know where she had studied.

no (ADV) - expresses refusal
No! I don’t want to come!

leased - least
leased (V) - past form of ‘lease’: to rent
They leased they office for three months.

least (superlative ADJ) - the minimum
She was the least successful of the candidates.

loan - lone
loan (V) - to allow someone to borrow
Can you loan me some money until tomorrow?

lone (ADJ) - the only one
She is the lone person who speaks French.

Homonym List M-R
made - maid
made (V) -past tense of the verb ‘to make’
She made me a cup of tea.

maid (N) - domestic help
The maid cleaned the room.

mail - male
mail (N) -post
I got a lot of mail today.

male (ADJ) - relative to men
His male friends are crazy!

marry - merry
marry (V) - to join in matrimony
Is a pastor going to marry them?

merry (ADJ) - happy
We had a merry time at the pub.

meat - meet
meat (N) - animal flesh
I really don’t like horse meat.

meet (V) - to see someone, to be introduced
Let’s meet next week.

mince - mints
mince (V) - to chop finely
Can you mince that parsley?

mints (N PLU) - type of sweet
I enjoy After Eight mints.

missed - mist
missed (V) - past tense of verb ‘to miss’
I missed the airplane and had to book another flight.

mist (N) - light fog
Ireland is famous for mist.

morning - mourning
morning (N) - am
Let’s meet tomorrow morning at nine.

mourning (N) - remember the dead
She was in mourning for three years.

none - nun
none - pronoun -not one
None of the students came to the party.

nun (N) - woman of God (Catholic)
The nun helped the children understand the song.

one - won
one - number - 1
Only one man came to the presentation.

won (V) - past tense of the verb ‘to win’
I won a prize at the competition.

pail - pale
pail (N) - bucket
Use that pail to hold the water.

pale (ADJ) - light colored
She looks rather pale.

pear - pair
pear (N) - a type of fruit
She ate a pear for lunch.

pair (N) - two (usually matching)
I bought a new pair of shoes last weekend.

patience - patients
patience (N) - quality of being willing to wait
Success requires a lot of patience.

patients (N PL) - person treated in a hospital or by a doctor
There are too many patients waiting in the emergency room.

piece - peace
piece (N) - part of something
I had a piece of pie for dessert.

peace (N) - the state of no war
We all hope to live in peace.

plain - plane
plain (ADJ) - not fancy
The food was rather plain in England.

plane (N) - short for ‘airplane’
The plane took off at six in the morning.

practice - practise
practice (N) - a period of training generally for sport or music
I went to practice after school was finished.

practise (V) - to train for music
I practise the piano for two hours every day.

rain - reign
rain (N) - precipitation
I can’t stand rain! I prefer sunny weather.

reign (N) - period of rule
Queen Elizabeth the Second’s reign continues to this day.

read - red
read (V) - past tense of the verb ‘to read’
I read Rabbit At Rest last week.

red - color
My favorite color is red.

right - write
right (ADJ) - correct
That answer is right!

write (V) - to put something down on paper
I prefer to write my letters in pen.

road - rode
road (N) - street
I took the country road instead of taking the freeway.

rode (V) - past tense of the verb ‘ride’
He rode a horse last weekend.

rose - rows
rose (N) - flower
I gave my girlfriend a red rose for her birthday.

rows (noun plural)- horizontal line of something
There are fifteen rows in the theater.

Homonym List S-Z
sail - sale
sail (V) - to go by sailboat
They often sail at weekends.

sale (N) - selling at reduced prices
Let’s go to the sale at the supermarket this afternoon.

scene - seen
scene (N) - visual location
The scene was set in the south of France.

seen (V) - past participle of the verb ‘to see’
I haven’t seen him in years!

sea - see
sea (N) - large body of water
We took a ferry across the sea.

see (V) - to visualize
Can you see him over there?

sew - so
sew (V) - to use needle and thread
Most people don’t sew their own clothes.

so (ADV) - to a great extent, very
The test was so difficult I almost failed.

sole - soul
sole (ADJ) - the only one
She was the sole person to understand him.

soul (N) - immortal part of a person
Many people believe that the soul goes to heaven when we die.

son - sun
son (N) - male child
Our son goes to Harvard!

sun (N) - the star that lights our solar system
The sun shone bright yesterday.

stair - stare
stair (N) - step
Be careful of that stair - it’s broken.

stare (V) - to look at steadily
Don’t stare at that woman! It’s rude.

steal - steel
steal (V) - to take unlawfully
I think there should be no punishment for people who steal food to survive.

steel (N) - metal
Most cars have some steel in their body.

suite - sweet
suite (N) - large room in a hotel
They stayed in the honeymoon suite.

sweet (ADJ) - the opposite of sour
Candy is very sweet.

their - there
their (possessive ADJ) -belonging to them
That’s their house on the corner.

there (ADV) - at or in that place
Please sit over there.

threw - through
threw (V) - past tense of the verb ‘to throw’
He threw the ball to his father.

through (PREP) - passing from one place to another
He went through the tunnel.

to - too - two
to (preposition) - towards (among many uses)
I went to him and offered my congratulations.

too (ADV) - also
Tom visited New York, too.

two - number - 2
She bought two magazines and some candy.

vary - very
vary (V) - to change
Results may vary with daily or weekly use.

very (ADV) - to a high degree
She was very happy to see Jim.

waist - waste
waist (N) - area between ribs and hips
I need to reduce the fat around my waist.

waste (V) - to not use well
Don’t waste time! Start studying!

wait - weight
wait (V) - to remain ready for someone or something
Can you wait just a moment?

weight (N) - an amount of heaviness
I wish my weight were lower.

war - wore
war (N) - armed conflict
The war in Iraq is damaging relations with the rest of the world.

wore (V) - past tense of the verb ‘to wear’
He wore a beautiful suit to the interview.

wear - where
wear (V) - to attire
Models generally wear jeans and not the expensive clothes they show on the walkway.

where - question word
Where does he come from?

weak - week
weak (ADJ) - opposite of strong
My left arm is very weak. I need to do some exercises.

week (N) - seven days
My work week is very long and hard.

weather - whether
weather (N) - the meteorological conditions
The weather has been quite beautiful this week.

whether (conjunction) - whether ... or - indicates an alternative
I don’t whether he will come or not.

which - witch
which - question word -> indicating choice among many
Which vacation should we choose?

witch (N) - magic woman
Sarah was burned as a witch during the Salem Witch Trials.

wood - would
wood (N) - material coming from trees
The desk is made out of wood.

would (V) - conditional auxiliary
I would like to visit you soon.