Homonymns & Homophones

Homonymns & Homophones

Homonyms are words that sound alike but have different meanings. Homophones are a type of homonym that also sound alike and have different meanings, but have different spellings. Homophones are words that are pronounced the same but they have different meanings and are usually spelled differently as well. They usually occur in groups of two but sometimes they can be three or four in a group. It’s important to recognize and identify the most common.

Examples of Homonyms:

            Aid - to help or assist

Aide - assistant

            Affect - change

Effect - result or consequence

            Air - atmosphere (the stuff we breathe), Err-- to make a mistake

            Allowed – permitted Aloud - out loud

            Ant - picnic pest, Aunt - relative, as in your mom's sister

            Arc – curve, Ark - Noah's boat

            Ate - chewed up and swallowed, Eight - number after seven

            Bare – uncovered, Bear - grizzly animal

            Berry - fruit from a bush, Bury -to put underground

            Be - to exist, Bee - buzzing insect

            Beat - to pound, Beet - type of edible plant

            Broach – mention, Brooch - pin

            Brows – eyebrows, Browse - look around

            Buy - purchase by – beside, Bye - short for goodbye

            Cent - penny coin, Sent - did send

            Two- I have two cats, To- She ran to school

            Accept (to receive) and Except (excluding)

            Acts (things done) and Ax (chopping tool)

            Ad (advertisement) and Add (short for addition)

            Affect (to influence) and Effect (result)

            Aid (to assist) and Aide (an assistant)

            Air (stuff we breath) and Heir (one who will inherit)

            Aisle (walkway) and Isle (island)

            Allusion (an indirect reference) and Illusion (a misconception)

            Ant (insect) and Aunt (parent's sister)

            Bald (hairless) and Bawled (cried aloud)

            Band (a group) and Banned (forbidden)

            Capital (city) and Capitol (wealth and resources)

            Climactic (great intensity) and Climatic (weather conditions)

            Days (more than one day) and Daze (to bewilder)

            Die (to become dead) and Dye (coloring agent)

            Elicit (to bring out) and Illicit (unlawful)

            Emigrate from (leave one country) and Immigrate to (enter another country)

            Fair (even-handed) and Fare (payment)

            Fairy (imaginary magic person) and Ferry (river-crossing boat)

            Gilt (gold-plated) and Guilt (did wrong)

            Gorilla (large ape) and Guerrilla (military soldier)

            Knead (working bread dough) and Need (must have)

            Mail (postal delivery) and Male (masculine person)

            Principle (a basic truth) and Principal (head of a school/sum of money)

            Scene (visual location) and Seen (past tense of saw)

            Than (a comparison) and then (shows time)

            There (a place) and Their (belongs to them) and They're (they are)

            To (a preposition) and Too (an adverb) and Two (a number)

            Your (possessive pronoun) and You're (you are)

Examples of Homophones: