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

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