A list of Homonyms (Definition: Two or more words which sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings.) These have been collected, arranged in alphabetical order and explained by:
Henry Mullish on September 1st, 2009
A
accept: to receive willingly; except: with the exclusion;
ad: abbreviation for: advertisement; add: to combine (numbers) into an equivalent number;
adherence: fidelity; adherents: followers;
affect: act on, influence; effect: a result;
aid: to give assistance; aide: a person who acts as an assistant;
ail: to suffer ill health; ale: an alcoholic beverage;
air: this what we breathe; heir: one who inherits property;
aisle: a passage separating a section of seats; isle: an island; I'll: I will; I shall;
all: every; awl: a pointed tool for marking surfaces;
allowed: permitted; aloud: with a strong voice;
alms: charity; arms: human upper limbs;
altar: a raised structure on which sacrifices are offered; alter: change;
ant: insect with a complex social organization: aunt: the wife of one's uncle;
arc: a curved path; ark: something that affords protection;
ascent: climb; assent: agree;
assistance: the act of assisting; assistants: people who help;
ate: past tense of eat; eight: number between 7 and 9;
aural: relating to the ear or to the sense of hearing; oral: uttered by the mouth or in words;
attendance: people present; attendants: employees who wait on customers;
auricle: an ear-shaped pouch in each atrium of the human heart; oracle: authoritative or wise expression;
awe: dread, terror; or: a logical operator; ore: a source from which valuable matter is extracted;
aye: an affirmative vote; eye: organ of sight; I: one who is speaking or writing;
B
bail: container to remove water from a boat; bale: sorrow;
band: something that binds; banned: barred;
bare: exposed; bear: large American mammal;
baron: a nobleman; barren: incapable of producing offspring;
bait: to tease; bate: restrain;
be: part of the verb 'to be'; bee: honeybee;
beach: body of water covered by sand; beech: hardwood tree with smooth bark;
bean: a seed of the legume family; been: past participle of the verb 'to be';
beat: to strike repeatedly; beet: a biennial plant used as a source for sugar;
beau beautiful, pretty; bow: something bent into a curve;
beer: an alcoholic beverage usually made from malted cereal grain; bier: a coffin;
bell: a metallic device that gives off a reverberating sound; belle: an attractive girl;
berry: a pulpy and usually edible fruit; bury: to inter with funeral ceremonies;
berth: where a ship lies when at anchor; birth: emergence of a new individual;
billed: caressed affectionately; build: construct;
bite: to seize especially with teeth; byte: a unit of computer information;
blew: past tense of the verb; 'blow'; blue: of the color blue;
bloc: a combination of persons or groups; block: a piece of wood;
board: a piece of sawed lumber; bored: to make a hole;
boarder: one provided with regular meals and lodging; border: boundary;
bold: fearless before danger; bowled: rolled (a ball) as in the game of bowling;
bolder: more confident; boulder: mass of rock;
boll: the pod of a plant; bowl: a drinking vessel;
boos: shouts of disapproval; booze: to drink liquor especially to excess;
born: brought forth by birth; borne: transported by;
bough: a branch of a tree; bow: submit, yield;
boy: a male child from birth; buoy: a floating beacon;
brake: a stopping mechanism; break: fracture;
breach: infraction or violation of a law; breech: the hind end of the body – the bottom;
bread: food, sustenance; bred: deep-rooted;
bridal: intended for a newly married couple; bridle: to restrain, check, or control;
broach: a cutting tool for removing material from metal; brooch: same as: broach;
brows: forehead; browse: to look over casually;
bussed: traveled by bus; bust: the breasts of a woman;
but: except for the fact; butt: strike with the head or horns;
by: near; buy: to acquire possession; bye: a farewell greeting;
C
cache: something hidden; cash: ready money;
calves: plural of: calf; carves: to cut with care or precision;
capital: a city serving as a seat of government; capitol: a building of a state legislative body;
canon: an accepted principle or rule; cannon: a large heavy gun usually mounted on a carriage;
cant: lively; can't: can not;
canter: beggar, vagabond; cantor: a synagogue official who sings or chants liturgical music;
canvas: closely woven cloth; canvass: to examine in detail;
carat: measure of fineness of gold; carrot: a biennial herb;
caress: to treat with affection and love; cress: pungent leaves used especially in salads;
caressed: treated with fondness crest: identifying emblem worn on a knight's helmet;
cast: to get rid of; caste: prestige;
caught: past tense of: to catch; court: a manor house or large building;
cause: reason for an action; cores: parts of some fruits; corps: organized unit of the military establishment;
cede: to yield or grant; seed: progeny;
ceiling: overhead inside lining of a room; sealing: confirm or make secure;
cell: a small compartment; sell: to deliver for money;
cellar: basement; seller: one that offers for sale;
censer: a vessel for burning incense; censor: a person who supervises conduct; sensor: sense organ;
cent: one hundredth of a dollar; sent: past tense of: send;
cents: American coins worth 100th of a dollar; scents: an odor; sense: intelligence;
cereal: food made of grain; serial: arranged in a series;
chased: followed rapidly; chaste: pure in thought and act;
cheater: one who influences by deceit; cheetah: a long-legged, spotted African cat;
chews:, grinds food with the teeth; choose: select freely;
chili: a hot pepper; chilly: noticeably cold;
chord: three or more musical tones sounded simultaneously; cord: the hangman's rope;
choral: relating to a chorus or choir; corral: an enclosure for confining or capturing livestock;
chord: three or more musical tones sounded simultaneously; cord: yarn;
chute: parachute; shoot: to propel a missile;
cite: : to quote by way of example; sight: something that is seen; site: the place of an occurrence;
claps: to strike with the flat of the hand in a friendly way; collapse: to break down completely;
clause: a group of words containing a subject; claws: a sharp nail on the toe of an animal;
click: : to fit or agree exactly; clique: a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons;
climb: to go upward; clime: climate;
coarse: of ordinary or inferior quality; course: an ordered process or succession;
coat: an outer garment worn on the upper body; cote: a shed or coop for small domestic animals;
coffers: boxes or chests; coughers: people who cough;
colonel: a high ranking military officer; kernel: the inner, softer part of a nut;
compare: to liken; compere: the master of ceremonies;
complement: completes or makes perfect; compliment: an expression of esteem or respect:
console: a piece of furniture; consul: a government representative in a foreign country;
coo to talk amorously or fondly; coup: overturn or upset:
council: an assembly for consultation; counsel: a lawyer engaged in a trial;:
crews: people working on a job; cruise: to sail about touching at a series of ports; cruse: a small jar or pot);
cue: prompt; queue: a waiting line especially of persons or vehicles;
currant: a small seedless raisin grown chiefly in the Levant; current: most recent;
cymbal: a concave brass plate that produces a brilliant clashing tone; symbol: a token or sign;
D
dais: a raised platform; days: in the daytime repeatedly;
dam: a body of water confined by a barrier: damn: to condemn to a punishment or fate;
days: plural of the word: day; daze: to stupefy especially by a blow; dais: a raised platform;
dear: precious; deer: a small animal;
dense: compactness or crowding together; dents: a minor depression in a substance:
descent: lineage; dissent: to differ in opinion;
desperate: having lost hope; disparate: different;
dew: condensation upon the surfaces of cool bodies; due: owed or owing as a debt;
die: to pass out of existence; dye: a soluble or insoluble coloring matter;
dire: dismal; dyer: one who imparts a new color to a garment or cloth;
divers: those who dive; diverse: various;
do: carry out; dough: a mixture that consists essentially of flour or meal;
done: arrived at or brought to an end; dun: marked by dullness and drabness;
draft: the act or an instance of drinking or inhaling; draught: British version of: draft;
dual: double; duel: a combat between two persons;
ducked: avoided; duct: a bodily tube or vessel;
E
earn: to receive as a return for effort; urn: a closed vessel, usually with a spigot;
elicit: to draw forth or bring out: illicit: not permitted or illegal;
ewe: female of the sheep; yew: evergreen tree with stiff leaves; you: the one being addressed;
F
faint: weak, dizzy; feint: a mock blow or attack;
fair: free from self-interest; fare: cost of travel;
fairy: a mythical being of folklore; ferry: to carry by boat over a body of water;
facts: actuality; fax: facsimile;
farther: to a greater degree or extent; father: a man who has begotten a child;
faze: to disturb the composure of; phase: a distinguishable part in a course;
feat: an exploit or an achievement; feet: plural of the word: foot;
file: a tool of hardened steel with cutting ridges for surfaces; phial: a vial;
find: to come across, often accidentally; fined: punished, usually by a sum of money;
fir: an evergreen tree of the pine family; fur: the hairy coat of a mammal;
flaw: a defect in physical structure or form; floor: the level base of a room;
flea: a small wingless bloodsucking insect; flee: to pass away swiftly;
flew: past tense of the word: fly; flu: abbreviation for the word: influenza;
fool: a person lacking in judgment; full: containing as much as possible;
for: used as a word to indicate purpose; fore: forward; four: the fourth in a set of series;
foray: pillage; fray: to frighten away;
forth: forward; fourth: the number immediately following the number 3 in the numbers table;
foul: loathsome; fowl: a cock or hen of the domestic chicken;
freeze: to become chilled by cold; frieze: coarse wool with a rough surface;
friar: a member of a mendicant order; fryer: a deep utensil for frying foods;
G
gait: a manner of walking or moving on foot; gate: an opening in a wall or fence;
gage: a fruit commonly known as a: greengage; gauge: the diameter of a slender object;
gays: homosexual males; gaze: to fix the eyes in a steady intent look;
gamble: to play a game for money or property; gambol: to skip about in play;
gild: to overlay with a thin covering of gold; guild: an association of people with similar interests;
gilt: of the color of gold; guilt: the state of one who has committed an offense;
gnaw: to bite or chew on with the teeth; nor: neither;
gorilla: a very large black-colored anthropoid ape guerrilla: one who engages in irregular warfare;
gores: gruesomeness depicted in vivid detail; gauze: : a loosely woven cotton surgical dressing;
grate: to gnash or grind noisily; great: notably large in size – huge;
grays: a series of neutral colors between black and white; graze: to feed on growing herbage;
guessed: formed an opinion from little or no evidence; guest: a person entertained in one's house;
H
hair: an outgrowth of the epidermis of most animals; hare: any of various long-eared lagomorph mammals;
hail: precipitation of small balls of layers of clear ice and compact snow; hale: free from defect;
hart: British version of a stag; heart: a human pump maintaining the circulation of the blood;
hay: herbage mowed and cured for fodder; hey: used to call attention, surprise, or exultation;
heal: to restore to health; heel: the back of the human foot below the ankle and behind the arch;
hear: to listen to with attention; here: in or at this place;
heard: perceived or apprehended by the ear; herd: undistinguished masses;
hew: to fell by blows of an ax; hue: color;
hi: used especially as a greeting; high: taller than average;
higher: taller; hire: available for use or service in return for payment;
him: objective case of: he; hymn: a song of praise to God;
hoard: a supply or fund stored up and often hidden away; horde: a teeming crowd or throng;
hoarse: rough or harsh in sound; horse: a large solid-hoofed mammal long domesticated;
hoes: implements for tilling; hose: a cloth leg covering that sometimes covers the foot;
hole: an opening through something; whole: a complete amount or sum;
holy: divine; wholly: completely;
hour: the 24th part of a day : 60 minutes; our: relating to us or ourselves;
how: in what manner or way; howl: to utter with unrestrained outcry;
humerus: the long bone of the upper arm; humorous: funny;
I
idle: : not occupied or employed; idol: an object of extreme devotion;
in: used as a function word to indicate inclusion; inn: tavern;
incite: instigate; insight: the power or act of seeing into a situation;
J
jam: made by boiling fruit and sugar; jamb: a projecting columnar part or mass;
jewel: a precious stone; joule: a unit of work or energy;
K
key: a metal instrument by which the bolt of a lock is turned; quay: a landing place built parallel to a waterway;
knead: to manipulate or massage; need: a necessary duty;
knew: past tense of: know; new: having recently come into existence;
knight: a person of antiquity equal to a knight in rank; night: the time from dusk to dawn;
knit: to tie together; nit: the egg of a louse;
knot: a tight constriction; not: used as a function word to make negative a group of words;
know: to have understanding of; no: used as a function word to express the negative of an alternative choice;
knows: to be aware of the truth; nose: the part of the face that bears the nostrils;
L
lam: to beat soundly; lamb: : a young sheep;
laps: the front part of the lower trunk and thighs of a seated person lapse: decline;
laud: solemn praise; lord: one having power and authority over others;
lax: deficient in firmness; lacks: to be deficient or missing;