Homophones and near homophones

In a nutshell

Homophones are two or more words that sound the same when spoken aloud but that are spelt differently and have two different meanings. In this summary, you will learn some common homophones as well as some common near homophones.

Homophones

Homophones are spelt differently and have different meanings, but when spoken sound the same.

Examples

whether	weather
aloud	allowed
mail	male
ascent	assent
bridal	bridle
passed	past
isle	aisle
led	lead
morning	mourning
heal	heel
grown	groan
bury	berry
knot	not

Near homophones

Besides homophones, there are also near homophones. These are words that are pronounced similarly but that have different meanings and different spellings. These words are tricky and are commonly mistaken for one another.

Examples

loose	lose
quiet	quite
further	father
advice	advise
accept	except
affect	effect