300+ Homophones From A To Z with Useful Examples

300+ Homophones From A To Z with Useful Examples

Learn 300+ Homophones from A to Z with useful examples in English. This lesson contains 300+ Homophones words with examples and pictures.

What are homophones? How do you comfort a distraught grammar teacher? You say, there, their, they’re! This old joke is an example of a homophone.

Homophone:

Homophone Definition: In English, a homophone is a word that is pronounced exactly or nearly the same as another word but differs in meaning and is spelled differently.

Homophone Examples:

Homophones are the most confusing words in the English language.

• Rode — Road
• Sauce — Source
• Scene — Seen
• See — Sea
• Side — Sighed
• Soar — Sore
• Sole — Soul
• Some — Sum
• Sort — Sought
• Stare — Stair
• Stationary — Stationery
• Steal — Steel
• Stile — Style
• Sun — Son
• Tail — Tale

List of Homophones with Examples

Homophones (A)

• Ad —– Add
• Ail —– Ale
• Air —– Heir
• All —– Awl
• Allowed —– Aloud
• Alms —– Arms
• Altar —– Alter
• Ant —– Aunt
• Arc —– Ark
• Ate —– Eight
• Auger —– Augur
• Aural —– Oral

Homophones (B)

• Baize —– Bays
• Bald —– Bawled
• Ball —– Bawl
• Band —– Banned
• Bard —– Barred
• Bare —– Bear
• Baron —– Barren
• Be —– Bee
• Beach —– Beech
• Bean —– Been
• Beer —– Bier
• Berry —– Bury
• Berth —– Birth
• Billed —– Build
• Blue —– Blew
• Bored —– Board
• Braid —– Brayed
• Break —– Brake
• Brews —– Bruise
• Bridal —– Bridle
• Broach —– Brooch
• Buy —– By / Bye

Homophones (C)

• Capital —– Capitol
• Cellar —– Seller
• We don’t use our coal cellar anymore.
• She is a flower seller.
• Census —– Sense
• A national census is taken every ten years.
• He felt an overwhelming sense of loss.
• Cereal —– Serial
• Chili —– Chilly
• The sauce needs more chili.
• I was feeling chilly.
• Choral —– Coral
• The third and final section of the evening was choral.
• They spent $ 2 million on environmental measures, he said, and hired biologists to replant coral that would be damaged.
• Cite —– Sight / Site
• He was cited for bravery.
• Anne’s sight is very good for someone of her age.
• A site has been chosen for the new school.
• Coarse —– Course
• Homophones examples:
• The coarse sand was hot.
• Andy’s doing a one-year journalism course.
• Complement —– Compliment
• The dark red walls complement the red leather chairs.
• Being compared to Abba is a great compliment.
• Council —– Counsel
• He sent a letter to the council to complain about the noise.
• The judge asked counsel for the defense to explain.

Homophones (D)

1. Deer —– Dear

• A deer makes tracks in the snow.
• Congratulations to you my dear brother on all your fine accomplishments in school.

2. Die —– Dye

• Do you believe in anything enough to die for it?
• Carbon less paper coated with chemicals and dye which will produce copies without carbon paper.

3. Discreet —– Discrete

• He assured her that he would be discreet.
• The change happens in a series of discrete steps.

4. Doe —– Dough

5. Done —– Dun

• As soon as I’m done, I’ll give you a call.
• The claret dun nymph is at home in slow, peaty streams.

6. Draft —– Draught

7. Dual —– Duel

• The piece of furniture serves a dual purpose as a cupboard and as a table.
• The officer challenged him to a duel.

Homophones (E)

1. Earn —– Urn

• He did all sorts of jobs to earn a living.
• The soup urn had a lonely look.

2. Ewe —– You

• He’s helping to drive in the ewes for a mass ante natal clinic
• I have some news for you.

Homophones (F)

• Farther —– Father
• Faze —– Phase
• File —– Phial
• Find —– Fined
• Fir —– Fur
• Flaw —– Floor
• Flea —– Flee
• Flew —– Flu/ Flue
• Flex —– Flecks
• Flour —– Flower
• For —– Four
• Foreword —– Forward
• Fort —– Fought
• Foul —– Fowl

Homophones (G)

• Gait —– Gate
• Gamble —– Gambol
• Genes —– Jeans
• Gored —– Gourd
• Great —– Grate
• Groan —– Grown

Homophones (H)

• Hart —– Heart
• Hear —– Here
• Heel —– Heal
• Hi —– High
• Him —– Hymn
• Hoard —– Horde
• Hole —– Whole
• Holy —– Wholly
• Hour —– Our

Homophones (I)

• I —– Eye
• Idle —– Idol
• Incite —– Insight

Homophones (K)

• Knead —– Need
• Knew —– New
• Knight —– Night
• Knot —– Not
• Know —– No

Homophones (L)

• Leak —– Leek
• Lessen —– Lesson
• Levee —– Levy
• Links —– Lynx
• Loan —– Lone
• Loot —– Lute

Homophones (M)

1. Made —– Maid

2. Mail —– Male

• He found a mountain of mail waiting for him.
• Many women earn less than their male colleagues.

3. Main —– Mane

• The main reason for living in Spain is the weather.
• She tossed back her mane of chestnut hair.

4. Manna —– Manner

• There is no mention in the story of the giving of water, or of food beyond the manna.
• I had hoped you would behave in a more responsible manner.

5. Marshal —– Martial

• Heston has been named grand marshal of the parade.
• He’d heard rumors that the military were planning to declare martial law.

6. Mask —– Masque

7. Maw —– More

• Millions of dollars were poured into the maw of defense spending.
• Children generally feel much more confident working in groups.

8. Medal —– Meddle

• She won a gold medal at the last Olympics.
• Church leaders shouldn’t meddle in politics.

9. Meet —– Meat

• Maybe we’ll meet again some time.
• I gave up eating meat a few months ago.

10. Might —– Mite

• I might be a few minutes late.
• Some teachers take everything a mite too serious.

11. Mist —– Missed

• We could just see the outline of the house through the mist.
• He missed 20 games after breaking a bone in his wrist.

12. Moose —– Mousse

• The team already knew that moose exposed to new predator populations are more vulnerable.
• She would bake a chocolate mousse torte.

13. Muscle —– Mussel

• Rooney has pulled a muscle in his thigh and won’t play tomorrow.
• You can also try beef heart, mussel, chicken, liver prawn and the like.

Homophones (N)

None —– Nun

• I wish I could offer you some cake but there’s none left.
• Georgiana later marries, and Eliza becomes a nun.

Homophones (O)

1. Oar —– Or

• We took one oar each and rowed quickly to the shore.
• It can be black, white or grey.

2. Overdo —– Overdue

• Don’t overdo the salt in the food.
• Her baby is two weeks overdue.

Homophones (P)

1. Pail —– Pale

• They filled their pail and container, and started the return journey.
• He looked very pale and drawn.

2. Pain —– Pane

• She felt a sharp pain in her leg.
• Mite peers through the pane, shakes her head and steps back.

3. Pair —– Pear

• She felt as if every pair of eyes in the room was on her.
• This pear smells nice.

4. Passed —– Past

• We passed a group of students outside the theater.
• Study some past exam papers to get an idea of the questions.

5. Peace —– Piece

• I wish she would just leave me in peace.
• He broke off a piece of bread and gave it her.

6. Peak —– Peek

• Sales this month have reached a new peak.
• Shut your eyes and don’t peek!

7. Pedal —– Peddle

• She put her foot down on the accelerator pedal.
• Farmers come to Seoul to peddle rice.

8. Plane —– Plain

• She slept on the plane.
• The advantages were plain to see.

9. Principal —– Principle

• His principal reason for making the journey was to visit his family.
• The general principle is that education should be available to all children up to the age of 16.

10. Profit —– Prophet

• The shop’s daily profit is usually around $500.
• He sent for Tiresias, the old blind prophet, the most revered of The bans.

Homophones (R)

1. Rain —– Reign

• There will be heavy rain in most parts of the country.
• A higher synthesis, one ushering in a new reign of peace and harmony, under a benign and ever just science.

2. Red —– Read

• We painted the door bright red.
• I was shocked when I read of his death.

3. Right —– Write

• Keep on the right side of the road.
• She had to write a report on the project.

4. Ring —– Wring

• She left a dirty ring around the bath.
• They are always trying to wring additional funds from the government.

5. Rode —– Road

• He rode away across the marshes.
• I ran down the road to see what was happening.

6. Role —– Roll

• They want to limit the role of government.
• I tried to roll him onto his side.

7. Rouse —– Rows

• We don’t want to rouse any suspicions.
• There were always rows when my dad got home.

8. Rung —– Wrung

• I have rung the world from these boxes and feel a great affection and gratitude towards them.
• Sally wrung out the socks and hung them on the towel rack.

Homophones (S)

Sail —– Sale

• She always wanted to sail around the world.
• The use and sale of marijuana remains illegal.

Sauce —– Source

• Stir in fish sauce, coconut milk, sugar, and lime juice and bring to a simmer.
• Beans are a very good source of protein.

Scene —– Seen

• The police soon arrived at the scene of the crime.
• He crouched down so he couldn’t be seen.

Scull —– Skull

• You didn’t scull too badly today.
• Her skull was crammed with too many thoughts.

See —– Sea

• She looked for him but couldn’t see him in the crowd.
• The waste was dumped in the sea.

Shoe —– Shoo

• What’s your shoe size?
• You shoo the dog out of the kitchen.

Side —– Sighed

• They crossed from one side of London to the other.
• He sighed deeply at the thought.

Slay —– Sleigh

• Those old movies still slay me!
• Alternatives to skiing include a leisure pool, curling and skating on the nearby lake, indoor tennis and sleigh rides.

Soar —– Sore

• She watched the dove soar above the chestnut trees.
• I had a sore throat and aching limbs.

Sole —– Soul

• Griffiths is the sole survivor of the crash.
  He is really quite a sensitive soul.

Some —– Sum

• I need some apples for this recipe.
• Bill wants to spend a large sum on modernizing the farm.

Sort —– Sought

• He wondered if Rosa was in some sort of trouble.
• He sought revenge against Survivor for separating him from his wife and son.

Staid —– Stayed

• The museum is trying to get rid of its staid image.
• She stayed at home while the children were young.

Stalk —– Stork

• He ate the apple, stalk and all.
• We always used to say the guys on the Ridge were lucky, the stork brought their babies.

Stare —– Stair

• It’s not polite to stare, you know.
• The second stair creaks when you step on it.

Stationary —– Stationery

• It is called a sinker because it sinks beneath you when you are stationary.
• You could say the same for luggage and stationery.

Steal —– Steel

• Inventors know that someone is always going to try to steal their designs.
• Sheffield is a major steel town.

Stile —– Style

• Continue on a clear path up the hillside to reach a stile on the ridge.
• The paintings are in an expressionistic style.

Sun —– Son

• The sun was shining and birds were singing.
• We have two daughters and a son.

Homophones (T)

• Tail —– Tale
• Team —– Teem
• Than —– Then
• Their —– There
• Throne —– Thrown
• Tide —– Tied
• To —– Too / Two
• Toe —– Tow

Homophones (V)

Vain —– Vein

• She closed her eyes tightly in a vain attempt to hold back the tears.
• The nurse was having trouble finding a vein in his arm.

Vary —– Very

• Class numbers vary between 25 and 30.
• The new building has been very much admired.

Homophones (W)

Wail —– Whale

• Somewhere behind them a child began to wail.
• We saw a whale blowing a jet of spray high in the air.

Waste —– Waist

• Why waste money on clothes you don’t need?
• He put his arm around her waist.

Way —– Weigh

• I’m not happy with this way of working.
• The young birds weigh only a few grams.

Weak —– Week

• She is still weak after her illness.
• He comes to see us once a week.

Weather —– Whether

• The weather is very changeable at the moment.
• I asked him whether he had done it all himself or whether someone had helped him.

Where —– Wear

• I wonder where they will take us to.
• I always wear black.

Which —– Witch

• Which of the applicants has got the job?
• He wants me to be a witch.

Who’s —– Whose

• Who’s the money for?
• Whose house is that?

Won —– One

• Britain won five gold medals.
• There’s only room for one person.

Would —– Wood

• He said he would be here at eight o’clock.
• All the furniture was made of wood.

Homophones (Y)

You’re —– Your

• You’re a good person.
• Dentists advise you to have your teeth checked every six months.