Homophones list: common English words that sound the same, with example sentences

What are homophones?

Merriam-Webster defines homophones as words that sound the same but are different: see (to view something) and sea (the large body of water) are homophones. The dictionary also notes that the word is made from Greek parts: homophone comes from the Greek -phōnos, meaning "sounding".

It is easy to confuse three related terms:

Merriam-Webster explains that homonyms can be either homophones or homographs (or even both at once). In this guide we focus on homophones, because they matter most for spelling and listening.

Cambridge Dictionary gives a good practice example: choose the correct homophone in each case. There is no plaice / place like home. I was in terrible pane / pain when I broke my arm. Only the spelling and the context tell you which is correct.

Everyday pairs you will use every day

These are the most common pairs. Learn them first.

FluentU teaches 25 pairs of common English homophones with example sentences, and is a good place to find more after you finish this list.

The trio their / there / they're causes the most spelling mistakes in emails, so learn it first.

Nature, food and objects

These pairs are common in stories and daily conversation.

Useful tip: most of these pairs differ by only one or two letters, so check which spelling makes sense for the thing you are describing.

Verbs and actions

When you listen to a sentence, you can tell which of the two is meant from the position in the grammar: a verb slot needs a verb (threw), a preposition slot needs a preposition (through).

Work, school and abstract words

You will notice that many of these pairs share a spelling pattern. When you meet a new word, ask yourself whether it has a "twin" with the same sound.

Homophones that depend on your accent

Not every pair is a homophone for every speaker. Many words are the same in one accent and different in another.

• British English (non-rhotic accents) often make these pairs sound identical: caught / court, sauce / source, pause / paws / pores, saw / sore, farther / father (in some accents).
• American English often keeps the r sound, so court and caught can sound different, though many Americans also say them the same.
• which / witch are the same sound for many speakers, but some speakers still say a slight h sound at the start of which.

What this means for you: do not worry if a list has a pair that sounds different in your accent. Use the list to learn spellings and meanings, and listen to the speakers around you to learn which words match in their accent.

One practical lesson: context does the work. In a real conversation, nobody stops to spell new and knew. The listener understands from the grammar and the topic. This is why you can speak correctly without ever "hearing" the difference, but must learn it for writing.

How to learn homophones

1. Learn pairs in sentences, not alone. Write one short sentence for each word: I knew the answer. It is a new book.
2. Group by pattern. Words that end the same way are easier to compare: flower/flour, hour/our, meet/meat.
3. Make a mistake list. Write the three pairs you mix up most. Review them for a week.
4. Dictation. Ask a friend, or an AI tutor, to read a sentence aloud, and write what you hear. Then check the spelling against the meaning.
5. Proofread aloud. When you read an email aloud, your ear will not notice homophone mistakes, but your eye will if you stop at each pair.
6. Use the replacement test. For to/too/two, ask: Can I say "also"? Then too. Is it a number? Then two. Otherwise, to.

Cambridge notes that many adults in one study did not know the difference between basic homophones such as there and their, so you are in good company. A little regular practice fixes it.

If you want to practise saying and hearing these words in sentences, see our guide to how to speak English fluently, and our list of difficult words to pronounce.

Quiz: choose the correct homophone

Choose the word that fits. Answers follow.

1. I can't ___ you. (hear / here)
2. We ___ the match. (one / won)
3. The ___ is lovely today. (weather / whether)
4. She ate the ___ pear. (hole / whole)
5. I'm going ___ the shop. (to / too / two)
6. Please ___ your name here. (right / write)
7. The ___ was very high. (tide / tied)
8. I need some ___ for the cake. (flour / flower)
9. They ___ at the airport. (meat / meet)
10. The doctor has many ___. (patience / patients)
11. It was a ___ of time. (waist / waste)
12. I ___ the answer yesterday. (know / knew)

Answers: 1. hear. 2. won. 3. weather. 4. whole. 5. to. 6. write. 7. tide. 8. flour. 9. meet. 10. patients. 11. waste. 12. knew.

Say each full sentence aloud once you have chosen the answer. Notice that you do not change your voice for the homophone: the sentence tells your listener everything.