What are homophones? List of examples
English Homophone words
A homophone is a word that has the same pronunciation as another word but has different spelling and meaning. For example, ‘one’ and ‘won’ are pronounced the same (/wʌn/ in the IPA) but the have different spelling and different meanings.
English Homophone Examples With Short Vowels Hear homophone word pairs and practice these English homophones sentences out loud with the recording tool. Listen and then record and compare your own pronunciation of each English homophone examples with the native speaker.
While practicing these English homophones exercises, pay attention to the word stress, rhythm and emphasis
English Homophone Examples With Short Vowels
/i:/
- be – bee /biː/
- key – quay /kiː/
- sea – see /siː/
- seas– sees – seize /siːz/
- seam – seem /siːm/
- beat – beet /biːt/
- bean – been /biːn/
- feet – feat /fi:t/
- be – bee /biː/
- key – quay /kiː/
- sea – see /siː/
- seas– sees – seize /siːz/
- seam – seem /siːm/
- beat – beet /biːt/
- bean – been /biːn/
- feet – feat /fi:t/
- meat – meet /miːt/
- creak – creek /kriːk/
- weak – week /wiːk/
- peak – peek /pi:k/
- read – reed /riːd/
- steal – steel /stiːl/
- heal – heel /hi:l/
- scene – seen /siːn/
- teas – tease /tiːz/
- piece – peace /piːs/
- ceiling -sealing /ˈsiː.lɪŋ/
- sweet – suite /swiːt/
- genes – jeans /dʒiːnz/
- cereal – serial /ˈsi:.ri.jəl/
/ɔː/
- awe – oar – or /ɔː/
- your – you’re /jɔː/
- for – four /fɔː/
- saw – sore – soar /sɔː/
- paw – pour – poor /pɔː/
- shore – sure /ʃɔː/
- raw – roar /rɔː/
- bored – board /bɔːd/
- sort – sought /sɔːt/
- caught – court /kɔːt/
- hall – haul /hɔːl/
- sauce – source /sɔːs/
- horse – hoarse /hɔːs/
- pause – paws /pɔːz/
- morning-mourning /ˈmɔː.nɪŋ/
/u:/
- to – too – two /tuː/
- you – U – ewe /juː/
- cue – queue /kju:/
- threw – through /θruː/
- knew – new /njuː/
- flew – flu /fluː/
- blew – blue /bluː/
- chews – choose /tʃuːz/
- crews – cruise /kruːz/
- root – route (UK Aus) /ruːt/
- moose–mousse /muːs/
/ɜː/
- heard – herd /hɜːd/
/a:/
- passed – past /pɑːst/
- aren’t–aunt (UK Aus) /ɑːnt/
- draft – draught /dra:ft/
English Homophone Examples With Diphthong Vowels
/eɪ/
- ate – eight /eɪt/
- way – weigh – whey /weɪ/
- pray – prey /preɪ/
- wait – weight /weɪt/
- waist – waste /weɪst/
- great – grate /greɪt/
- made – maid /meɪd/
- break – brake /breɪk/
- steak – stake /steɪk/
- rain – reign /reɪn/
- plain – plane /pleɪn/
- vein – vain – vane /veɪn/
- pain – pane /peɪn/
- base – bass /beɪs/
- phase – faze /feɪz/
- raise – rays /reɪz/
- faint – feint /feɪnt/
- sail – sale /seɪl/
- mail – male /meɪl/
- tail – tale /teɪl/
- bail – bale /beɪl/
- wail – whale /weɪl/
/aɪ/
- die – dye /daɪ/
- high – hi /haɪ/
- buy – by – bye /baɪ/
- bite – byte – bight /baɪt/
- night – knight /naɪt/
- right – write /raɪt/
- sight – site /saɪt/
- tide – tied /taɪd/
- side – sighed /saɪd/
- mind – mined /maɪnd/
- find – fined /faɪnd/
- I’ll – aisle – isle /aɪl/
- idle – idol /ˈaɪ.dəl/
- higher – hire /ˈhaɪ.jə/
/aʊ/
- bow (v) – bough /baʊ/
- foul – fowl /faʊl/
- allowed – aloud /əˈlaʊd/
- flower – flour /ˈflaʊ.wə/
/oʊ/
- know – no /noʊ/
- toe – tow /toʊ/
- so – sow (verb) – sew /soʊ/
- soul – sole /soʊl/
- rose – rows /roʊz/
- knows – nose /noʊz/
- roll – role /roʊl/
- whole – hole /hoʊl/
- holy – wholly – holy /ˈhoʊ.li/
- loan – lone /loʊn/
- thrown – throne /θroʊn/
- road – rode /roʊd/
- wrote – rote /roʊt/
- grown – groan /groʊn/
/eə/
- air – heir /eə/
- pair – pear /peər/
- hair – hare /heə/
- fair – fare /feə/
- stair – stare /steə/
- bare -bear /beə/
- there – they’re – their /ðeə/
- where – we’re – wear /weə/
- mare – mayor /meə/
/ɪə/
- hear – here /hɪə/
- tear (n) – tier /tɪə/
- dear – deer /dɪə/
/ɔɪ/
- boy – buoy /bɔɪ/