Homophones & Homographs: A Guide to These Confusing Words

Learn about words that sound the same but are spelled differently

Co-authored by Ronnie Ramos and Aly Rusciano

Last Updated: December 11, 2025 Fact Checked

Homophone vs. Homograph vs. Homonym

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Homophone Examples

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Homograph Examples

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Video

Words that sound the same but have different meanings or spellings are called homophones, and boy, can these words be tricky! Along with homophones come homographs, which are words that are spelled the same but have different pronunciations and meanings. The English language sure can be confusing, which is why we’ve put together this guide to help you learn the difference between homophones and homographs (with lots of helpful examples).

What are homophones?

Illustrated infographic of common homophones.

Homophones are words that are pronounced the same but have different spellings or meanings. For example, “to,” “too,” and “two” are homophones. While each of these words sounds the same, they have different spellings and meanings.

Section 1 of 3:

Homophone vs. Homograph vs. Homonym

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Homophones are words that sound the same but have different spellings or meanings. For example,sea (a large body of water) and see (to look at something) are homophones. While these words might sound the same, they look different on the page and have different meanings.^{[1]
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- Homophone comes from the Greek word -phōnos, which means “sounding.”^{[2]
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- Here’s a fun trick to remember homophones: What do you do on the phone? You talk to people! So, homophones are words that sound the same.
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Homographs are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. For instance,shed (to lose hair) and shed (a small building) are homographs. These words look the same, but they have different meanings. Homographs can also look the same but have different pronunciations.^{[3]
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- Homograph comes from the Greek word graphein, which means “to write.”
- Here’s a fun trick to remember homographs: Most graphs have the same base but different data. So, homographs look the same but have different meanings or pronunciations.
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Homonyms can be homophones or homographs. The termhomonym can be used to refer to homophones or homographs. Think of it as an umbrella term—it describes both! This can get confusing, though, so people often just stick with using homophone or homograph when they want to be specific.
- Homonym comes from the Greek word onyma, which means “naming.”

Section 2 of 3:

Examples of Homophones

Homophones can be tricky to decipher, especially for new readers and writers. When words sound the same out loud but look different, it can certainly be confusing! Here are the 20 most common homophones that can be easy to mix up:^{[4]
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- affect (to indicate influence) / effect (result of an action)
- than (to compare) / then (to indicate time passing)
- which (to refer to something) / witch (an enchanting woman)
- here (to indicate location) / hear (to listen)
- are (to be) / our (plural possessive of “we”)
- buy (to purchase) / by (to indicate location)
- accept (to receive) / except (to exclude)
- weather (the state of the atmosphere) / whether (to introduce choices)
- there (to indicate location) / their (multiple people) / they’re (contraction for “they are”)
- to (to indicate direction, goal, or being) / too (synonym for “also”) / two (a number)
- you’re (contraction for “you are”) / your (pronoun)
- bear (a large animal) / bare (lack of clothing or decoration)
- one (a number) / won (to achieve success or victory)
- brake (to stop) / break (to smash or shatter)
- complement (something that enhances or completes) / compliment (to praise someone)
- aloud (something said out loud) / allowed (something permitted)
- lie (the act of reclining) / lay (the placement of something)
- it’s (contraction for “it is”) / its (possessive form of “it”)
- capital (referring to a city or uppercase letter) / capitol (referring to a building where lawmakers meet)
- principle (a basic truth or law) / principal (head of a school or a sum of money)

Section 3 of 3:

Examples of Homographs

Homographs look the same but can sound different and/or have different meanings, which is why context clues are important!^{[5]
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Expert Source

Ronnie Ramos
English Language Teacher

Expert Interview} These words can be tricky, especially for newer readers. Here are the 20 homographs with the same or different pronunciations:^{[6]
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- With the same pronunciations:
  - Bat (flying mammal) / bat (sports equipment) /bæt/
  - blue (color) / blue (feeling sad) /bluː/
  - can (able to) / can (metal container) /kæn/
  - fair (reasonable) / fair (festival) /fer/
  - lean (thin) / lean (rest against something) /liːn/
  - May (month) / may (might) /meɪ/
  - novel (new) / novel (book) /ˈnɑː.vəl/
  - park (play area) / park (to stop a vehicle) /pɑːrk/
  - saw (tool) / saw (past tense of “to see”) /sɑː/
  - train (mode of transportation) / train (exercise) /treɪn/
- With different pronunciations:
  - attribute (characteristic) /ˈæt.rɪ.bjuːt/ / attribute (to credit someone) /əˈtrɪb.juːt/
  - bass (fish) /bæs/ / bass (drum) /beɪs/
  - bow (weapon) /boʊ/ / bow (down) /baʊ/
  - close (to be near) /kloʊs/ / close (to shut) /kloʊz/
  - content (satisfied) /kənˈtent/ / content (various media) /ˈkɑːn.tent/
  - lead (front) /liːd/ / lead (mineral) /led/
  - object (thing) /ˈɑːb.dʒekt/ / object (argue) /əbˈdʒekt/
  - present (gift) /ˈprez.ənt/ / present (to bring forth) /prɪˈzent/
  - subject (thing) /ˈsʌb.dʒekt/ / subject (to force to do something) /səbˈdʒekt/
  - tear (rip) /ter/ / tear (crying) /tɪr/