Same sound, different meaning
Homophones sound exactly the same but have different spellings and meanings. The only way to choose is to think about what the word means in the sentence.
| Words | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| there / their / they’re | there is a place (it has here in it) · their belongs to them · they’re = they are |
| to / too / two | to the shop · too many (an extra o for extra) · two = 2 |
| hear / here | you hear with your ear · here is a place |
| where / wear | where is a place (here again!) · you wear clothes |
| sea / see | the sea is water · you see with your eyes (two e’s like two eyes) |
| peace / piece | peace is calm · a piece of pie |
| flour / flower | flour makes bread · a flower grows in the garden |
| weather / whether | the weather is sunny · whether means if |
| knew / new | I knew (from know) · something new |
| allowed / aloud | allowed = let you · read aloud = out loud |
A British English pair
- practice (noun, a thing): football practice
- practise (verb, an action): I practise the piano
- Same with advice (noun) and advise (verb).
Watch out! A spell-checker won’t catch a homophone, because both words are real words.
Top tip: swap in the meaning. “They are going” works, so it’s they’re going.
🎮 Which one?Question 1 of 3
The children left bags in the hall.
🔎 Sound-alikes1 of 5