Homonyms, Homographs, and Homophones

Homonyms: Words that have the same spelling and same pronunciation,
but
different meanings.
Directions: Choose (a) or (b)
Example: I hope you are not lying _(a)_ to me. (a) telling a lie
My books are lying _(b)_ on the table. (b) being in a horizontal position
1. The kids are going to watch ___ TV tonight. (a) small clock worn on the wrist
What time is it? I have to set my watch____. (b) look at

2. Which page _____ is the homework on? (a) one sheet of paper
Please page _____the doctor if you need help. (b) to call someone on an electronic
pager

3. Lets play ___ soccer after school. (a) participate in a sport

The author wrote a new play ___. (b) theater piece

4. Ouch! The mosquito bit ___ me! (a) a tiny amount

Ill have a little bit ___ of sugar in my tea. (b) past tense of bite

5. My rabbits are in a pen ___ outside. (a) a writing instrument which uses ink
Please sign this form with a black pen ___. (b) an enclosed area
Homophones: Words that have the same pronunciation, but different
spelling
and different meanings.
Directions: Choose the correct word.
Example: Please try not to (waste, waist) paper.

1. Can I go to the party (to, too, two)?

2. This is my favorite (pare, pair, pear) of jeans.
3. I (sent, scent, cent) a letter to my aunt in Vietnam.
4. The children got (bored, board) during the lecture.
5. Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez like to work in (there, theyre, their) garden.
6. Alec is going to (wear, ware) his work boots today.
7. Do you think it is going to (rein, rain, reign) this afternoon?
8. I saw a restaurant just off the (rode, road) about a mile back.
9. Davids brother is in a (band, banned) which plays Russian music.
10. Juana wants her socks because her (tows, toes) are cold.
11. The teacher walked down the (aisle, isle) between the rows of desks.
12. Hadil has a (pane, pain) in her shoulder.
13. The school (principal, principle) spoke to a group of parents.
14. The clerk wants to (sell, cell) as many TVs as possible.
15. I dont want to talk about the (passed, past) anymore.
16. Nobody (knows, nose) what you are thinking.
17. I have (for, four, fore) dollars in my pocket.
18. I need to take a (break, brake) from this exercise!
19. Humans have hands. Dogs have (paws, pause).
20. (Hell, Heel, Heal) be here in a few minutes.

Homonyms, Homographs, and Homophones

Homonyms: Words that have the same spelling and same pronunciation, but
different meanings.
Directions: Choose (a) or (b)
Example: I hope you are not lying _(a)_ to me. (a) telling a lie

My books are lying _(b)_ on the table. (b) being in a horizontal position
1. The kids are going to watch ___ TV tonight. (a) small clock worn on the wrist
What time is it? I have to set my watch____. (b) look at
2. Which page _____ is the homework on? (a) one sheet of paper
Please page _____the doctor if you need help. (b) to call someone on an electronic
pager
3. Lets play ___ soccer after school. (a) participate in a sport
The author wrote a new play ___. (b) theater piece
4. Ouch! The mosquito bit ___ me! (a) a tiny amount
Ill have a little bit ___ of sugar in my tea. (b) past tense of bite
5. My rabbits are in a pen ___ outside. (a) a writing instrument which uses ink
Please sign this form with a black pen ___. (b) an enclosed area
Homographs: Words that have the same spelling, but different pronunciations and
meanings.
Directions: Choose (a) or (b)
Example: The wind _(a)_ is blowing hard. (a) moving air (rhymes with pinned)
I have to wind _(b)_ my clock. (b) turn the stem (rhymes with find)
1. The singer made a low bow ___ to the audience. (a) decorative ribbon (rhymes
with so)
Maria placed a red bow ___ on the birthday gift. (b) bend at the waist (rhymes with
how)
2. All the students are present ___ today. (a) here (rhymes with pleasant)
The boss will present ___ the award at 10:00. (b) give (rhymes with resent)
3. Please close ___ the door. (a) near (rhymes with dose)
The boy sat close ___ to his uncle. (b) shut (rhymes with toes)
4. The rope was wound ___ around his ankles. (a) tied around (rhymes with pound)
The soldier received a wound ___ in the battle. (b) an injury (rhymes with moon)

5. I dont know if I will live ___ or die. (a) to have life (rhymes with give)
Last night I saw the band play live ___ in concert. (b) in real time performance
(rhymes with hive)
Homophones: Words that have the same pronunciation, but different spelling
and different meanings.
Directions: Choose the correct word.
Example: Please try not to (waste, waist) paper.
1. Can I go to the party (to, too, two)?
2. This is my favorite (pare, pair, pear) of jeans.
3. I (sent, scent, cent) a letter to my aunt in Vietnam.
4. The children got (bored, board) during the lecture.
5. Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez like to work in (there, theyre, their) garden.
6. Alec is going to (wear, ware) his work boots today.
7. Do you think it is going to (rein, rain, reign) this afternoon?
8. I saw a restaurant just off the (rode, road) about a mile back.
9. Davids brother is in a (band, banned) which plays Russian music.
10. Juana wants her socks because her (tows, toes) are cold.
11. The teacher walked down the (aisle, isle) between the rows of desks.
12. Hadil has a (pane, pain) in her shoulder.
13. The school (principal, principle) spoke to a group of parents.
14. The clerk wants to (sell, cell) as many TVs as possible.
15. I dont want to talk about the (passed, past) anymore.
16. Nobody (knows, nose) what you are thinking.
17. I have (for, four, fore) dollars in my pocket.
18. I need to take a (break, brake) from this exercise!
19. Humans have hands. Dogs have (paws, pause).
20. (Hell, Heel, Heal) be here in a few minutes.

Homophones Word List

ad/add in/inn sail/sale
aloud/allowed its/its sea/see
alter/altar knew/new seam/seem
ate/eight knight/night sew/so/sow
beat/beet knot/not some/sum
blue/blew know/no son/sun
break/brake lead/led stair/stare
buy/by/bye made/maid tale/tail
cell/sell meat/meet tea/tee
cent/scent/sent one/won there/theyre/their
deer/dear or/ore/oar to, too, two
flour/flower pale/pail toe/tow
flu/flew pare/pair wail/whale
for/four plane/plain waist/waste
great/grate prince/prints wait/weight
groan/grown rain/reign/rein weak/week
hair/hare read/red weather/whether
hall/haul read/reed well/wheel
hear/here right/write which/witch
heard/herd rode/rowed/road whos/whose
hour/our rose/rows your/youre
*Please note that this is only a small collection of homophones. There are many
more! This
list was meant for beginners. Other lists are available on the Internet.

Homonyms, Homophones and Other Word Challenges

By Dr. Joan Joesting-Mahoney
Homonyms are words that are spelled differently yet pronounced the same and
there are near
homonyms which are words that are pronounced almost the same but not
identically. There are some words
that are just confusing and are confused. The computer spelling checker cannot be
relied upon to catch
these words because they are actually spelled correctly when viewed alone but are
spelled incorrectly when
used in different parts of sentences. (Gorrell, Donna. The Little, Brown Workbook NY:
Longman, 2001).
This is an attempt to help a writer to correctly use these often misspelled words.
These tricks
have been gleaned from over 50 years of off and on free lance writing and
teaching English at the
community college level. Also, this writer has a doctorate in psychology and
definitely believes that
a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down so that humorized instruction
is used as much as
possible.
adapt, adopt
adopt is easier to tell because one remembers that an adopted child/pet has an
opened mouth like the o
in the word begging for food/water/college tuition/down payment on a home, etc.
addition, edition
addition is easy to tell because one has been adding for years
access, excess
excess has the ex prefix like extra which means too much

accept, except
again, the ex prefix meaning too much. Except comes from exception
advice, advise
I see vice in advice as most people who give advice have this kind of vice, that is,
trying to stuff
other people with their ideas/views
affect, effect
affect is always a verb or action word and effect is a noun (person, place or thing).
Effect begins with
an e. Here in hurricane "tortured" Florida, we remember going "eke" when we went
outdoors after a
hurricane and saw the effect of the hurricane, the neighbor's roof in our yard.
aisle, isle
isle comes from island
alley, ally
alley has an e in it which like is like a fiendish eye peeking down a deserted alley
allowed, aloud
aloud has loud in it and that is what it means to speak aloud.
allude, elude
elude has an e which alludes to the e in escape
already, all ready
all are ready which is all ready while already refers to implied time
allusion, illusion
illusion refers to something one sees when ill or a false impression
altar, alter
for nonreligious people an altar is a pile of sticky tar where people worship
altogether, all together

altogether means whole like the word is whole while all together refers to a
group of people
amoral, immoral
im means not so immoral is not moral while amoral means not moral or
immoral
anecdote, antidote
anecdote is a short entertaining story while anti means against with an
antidote being something
against a disease
angel, angle
angel has gel in it while an angle had better not gel or it would not be a type
of corner
ante, anti ante is before & anti is against. I am always against something
ascent, assent
the cent in ascent reminds me that I want the cents in my piggy bank to rise,
while assent means to
consent or comply
assistance, assistant
the tant is someone who does something like combatant and assistance is the
noun for assist
baring, barring, bearing
baring is like a bar put in front of something while barring is excepting with the
2 r's, and bearing
is carrying/giving birth like carrying a bear while giving birth which is just what
everyone wants to do.
bear, bare
a bear is an animal with fur/ears/tail/claws, etc. Just remember the ear on a bear
and bare is what you
are at birth
base, bass

a base is not something you want to erase while playing baseball or tag while a
bass is a fish you
would like to catch many of. Anyway, see the 2 ss but bass can also be a deep
voice/tune. In my
darker music-hating moments, I feel that the bass sound is the braying of an ass.
Again, notice the
double sss in both bass and ass. Let me stress to all music lovers that Im just
joking but not really.
beach, beech
each of us would like beach front property while a beech is a tree with more
than 2 leaves. Notice the
2 es
beat, beet, beef
one must beat an animal to death before one can eat it (usual factory farm
animal cruelty which is why I
don't eat beef), but a beet root has 2 es like it has many roots + the t as in
eat.. Beef cattle have 2
es or eyes.
berth, birth
I can give birth so there is the I in birth.
beside, besides
beside without the s means near while besides with the "s" means something
longer like moreover,
furthermore, etc.
board, bored
board is like a hard piece of wood with.ard and "hard" and "board in both while
bored can mean to
bore a hole or to be bored. from listening to my favorite lecture about glorious
pronouns. Note the e in
bore.

boarder, border
boarder has several meaning such as one who gets on a ship or airplane or one
who eats his/her meals
like a paying guest, while a border has order in it as one is usually ordered to stop
at borders of countries.
born, borne
born with orn from horn in it means to be brought into life like a female sheep
(ewe) giving birth
to a lamb with tiny horns. Borne is the past participle of bear or to carry. Please see
the ne at the end of
borne. Never do I want to carry anything.
brake, break
Brakes are what stop cars. If your car brakes fail, they will rake your body parts off
the road. Break
means to wreck things like a bird does with his/her beak.
breath, breathe
Breath refers to air taken in and out of the lungs and is a noun while breathe is a
verb that requires
he/she to take a breath. Please see the e in both he/she and breathe.
bridal, bridle
bridal has to do with all brides. Please see the al in bridal and the al in all, while
bridle is what
horses wear on their heads by which they are controlled.
by, buy, bye
by is short and sweet when one passes someone/something. I go by you, while
buy with the y is
what you like to do: shop, that is, buy things. Bye is what happens to your credit
rating when you buy too
much. If you are sprinting against me in a tight bicycling or running race, I might
yell, Bye! .

capital, capitol
Capital has many meanings including capital letters, the main city where the
state/national government
meets while capitol is the building where politicians meet. Please see the tol in
capitol. See I told you
they were liars. Please understand that I am just joking as there are some honest
politicians. Maybe!
canvas, canvass
canvas is a tough cloth like denim while canvass is the vast pestering of people to
try to get votes.
censor, censure, sensor
censor is someone who takes the census while censure means to blame a person
for bad things that I
am sure that he/she has done.. Please .note the sure. Sensor comes from the senses
and is connected with
reception and connection of impressions like the sensor on an alarm system.
cereal, serial
cereal, a breakfast food, is often made from corn so see the c in both corn and
cereal while serial comes
from the word series that is a list of things in some kind of order
choice, choose, chose
choice is a noun and we all have choices, while choose is the present tense and
chose is the past tense
of this irregular verb. The present participle is chosen.
chord, cord
chord has many meanings but most often it refers to music in that three or more
tones are sounded
together to make a harmonious sound. Please note the h in chord and
harmonious..
cite, sight, site

cite means to quote a passage when writing. Please note the e at the end of cite
and the e at the end of
quote. Sight has the s from see; therefore, sight is what you see. The site is a
building place which must
be just right. Site and right rhyme
close, clothes, cloth
rarely is close confused with clothes which is a noncount plural noun and can refer
to many articles of
clothing while a cloth is a singular noncount noun and be a dish cloth or refer to
yards of cloth. Noncount
nouns are names of those things you don't usually count like rice, coffee, tea, etc.
One could count grains of
rice but instead we write cups/pounds, etc. of rice.
coarse, course
coarse has many letters like hoarse and is like a hoarse grating cloth while course
can mean a class in a
specific discipline, a river course, etc. A course is something that follows rules
whether natural or made by
humans.
complement, compliment
complement is something that goes well with another thing while I love
compliments as they are good
things said about me. Please see the I and the I in compliment. Complement is
like fine wine (notice
the "e" in complement and in wine. The wine "complements" fine dining.
consul, council, counsel
Consul is like an attorney with the sul from attorneys who are sometimes
somewhat sullen. The
council is a group of people sometimes sitting on a window sill. Please see the il in
council and the
il in sill, while counsel means to sell or deliver.

costume, custom
The u in custom reminds me that you must obey customs while you wear
costumes which can
cost you money to make or rent.
cursor, curser
The or in the cursor reminds me about someone pointing at me to do
something or Ill be
probably punished so I must stay out of trouble and not be a curser, that is, use bad
words on the Internet
or in front of my students.
dairy, diary
Dairy is where milk cows are kept and since they must be milked twice each day,
the da refers to
dairy. The first I in diary is what I have kept since 1976, my exercise diary.
Another psychologist
called me compulsive and I guess that I am compulsive about words.
dammed, damned The two ms refer to the large thing that holds water back
forming a lake, while the damn with the
n is something I should not (see the n in not) say or yell at someone even when
he/she deserves it.
dear, deer
My ears love to hear me called dear while the 2 es in deer refer to the
animal that is killed. Deer
seem to have two very sad eyes.
deceased, diseased
The cease in deceased means that the deer killer as explained above has died
and is deceased. He
has also stopped or deceased killing innocent deer. The diseased has that
dis prefix which is
negative; therefore, the living thing is not at ease.

definitely, defiantly
I get defiant when students continually confuse these two words. Please see the
an in defiantly
which shows my anger,
decent, descent, dissent
Decent refers to proper dress/behavior can earn one more cents while is the
des means going down,
and since I have often been called a dissenter or a disagreeing person, the I in
dissent is what
I too often do and for which I get into trouble.
desert, dessert
A desert is an aird geographical area or a man/woman can desert his/her child
but I prefer two
desserts as this is the word for after dinner sweets and has the 2 ss
device, devise
A device is sometimes something makes ice while devise is like planning.
dining, dinning
Dining comes from to dine which is devine, while dinning with its 2 ns is
noisy noise which is
annoying
dual, duel
Dual is always two together while a duel is a contest between two people.
Please note all the es
for the eyes that will be focused on each other when they walk 10 paces apart and
then turn around and
shoot each other.
dyeing, dying
Dyeing is changing the color of something like fabric or hair and will be noticed
with the eyes.

Please note the e in dyeing, while dying has no e because the spelling rule is
when there is a
vowel before a y at the end of a word, drop the y and add ing. This was before
spell check was
invented; nevertheless, it is still true.
elicit, illicit
The el in elicit means to draw out while the ill in illicit refers to ill or bad
like illegal.
emigrate, immigrate
Emigrate means to enter or move into, while the immigrate should have its
im chopped off so
that you have migrate and everyone knows about migrating birds. Migrating birds
defecate on my solar
dryer, that is, a rope between two tress where I hang my freshly washed clothes.
eminent, imminent
The first e in eminent refers to an eye that is what eminent means: famous, while
imminent has the
is which mean it is threatening evil.
envelop, envelope
Envelop is a verb that means to surround which makes an envelope a piece of
paper/cardboard which
surrounds a piece of paper/greeting card, etc.
fair, fare
These two words can be excessively confusing since fair can refer to airfare that
isnt necessary
fair or just. My best way of remembering the difference between these words is to
remember that
airfares are never fair as the rules are always up in the air.
faze, phrase, phase

Faze" reminds me of being agitated, while a phrase can be an incomplete

sentence that runs on
with the rs being in common. A phase is something that donkeys or as-s go
through and is part of their maturation process. Children/teenagers/males of all
species, but not mature women, all go through
obnoxious phases.
flea, flee
A flea is an insect that should be kept away. Please note the a in flea and the
a in away,
while flee has the two es which one needs to see when one leaves or flees an
area.
flour, flower
Flour has our in it and it is important that I keep our flour supply constantly
ready for baking.
Flowers have leaves. Please note the l in both flowers and leaves.
foreword, forward
Fore always means before so it is something at the beginning of a book while
for means going
ahead so forward means proceeding onward..
former, farmer
Former always means first while a farmer is someone who farms and is always
complaining about the
too much rain/not enough rain. Please note the "a" in "farmer" and in rain. Yes, I
have farmed and
understand their problems.
forth, fourth
Fourth is always indicates four in a line while forth is to move on or get the
heck out of here.
foul, fowl
foul is a bad smell while the owl in fowl shows it relates to
birds/ducks/geese/gulls, etc. which

cannot be housebroken so they are all foul if kept in a confined location.

gorilla, guerrilla
Gorilla has the big furry head while a guerrilla is a type of terrorist who does
not use standard
methods of warfare. Note the 2 rs in both words.
heard, herd
heard has that ear in it so it is the past tense of what one does with his/her
ears while a herd is a
group of herbivores or animals who eat herbs/grass.
heal, heel
Heel with the 2 es is what you have two of unless you were born with one or a
shark ate it.
hear, here
Hear is what you do with your ears while here is where you are. Please note the
here in where.
heroin, heroine
Heroin is a narcotic while heroine is a female hero which the English languages
now calling
a hero without the feminine ending e. I would rather be a hero than a heroine as it
sounds too much like
heroin and Im not a narcotic nor have ever had anything to do with them.
hoarse, horse
Hoarse is a coarse sound usually caused by someone having trouble with his/her
vocal cords while a
horse is a four-legged grass eating, mane/tail wearing usually domesticated animal.
that one can ride or
drive when it is attached to a wagon/buggy, etc.
hole, whole
A hole is a depression in something usually in the ground while a whole in an
entire thing. Please

note the w at the beginning of the word whole.

holey, holy
Holey usually means there are many holes in something like clothing, arguments,
etc. while holy refers
to good things in most religions.
human, humane
A human is a person while humane is an adjective that describes a kind/caring
person.
idea, ideal
An idea is a thought while an ideal is a good bunch of ideas. Please notice the
l which ends the
word, ideal.
incidence, incidents, instants
An incidence is some type of occurrence." Please note the c while incidents
pluraizes them,
and instants refers to this moment.
irrelevant, irreverent
Irrelevant has that ir prefix which means not so it means not relevant while
irreverent means not reverent or not showing respect respect.
instance, instants
Instance means to give an example while instants is urgent with the stant
referring to:standing
its, its
One can write: her tires, his tires, and its tires all denoting ownership while its =
"it is."
knew, new
Knew is past tense of know. Please note the k while new is something never
existing before.
later, latter, ladder

Later is more recent while latter is nearer the end with the 2 t stressing
latter than later. A
ladder has at least 2 rungs or steps that look something like the 2 ds in ladder.
lay, lie
Lay is the present tense of rest or recline while lie is the past tense or it can also
be the present tense
tense and noun meaning to tell a falsehood. Liar, liar, pants on fire. You told a lie.
lead, led
Lead is the present tense to pull someone or some animal around while led is
the past tense. Lead is
also a noun meaning a heavy medal or weight or a certain type of pencil. Get the
lead out and get to
work, my father used to yell at me for some reason.
lessen, lesson
Lessen means to make something less, while lesson is what is taught to
someone, with the son in the
word referring to what you want your son. to know.
liable, libel
Liable means legally bound to do something whereas libel" means something
written illegal and bad
about a person. Please note the el in libel and le in illegal.
lightning, lightening
lightning writes in white jagged lines across the sky in while lightening my long
hair takes ten
bottles of dye. Please notice the ten in lightening.

mantel, mantle
A mantel is that ledge above a fireplace while the mantle is what you someone
tells you to wear

instead of a coat. Please see similarities between tle and tells.

marital, martial
martial, an adjective (descriptive word) refers to war while marital refers to
marriage with the I
coming first in many marriages which can result in a type of war or a martial
divorce
maybe, may be
These two words mean the same that is perhaps.
meat, meet
Meat with eat in it is from a dead animal which you eat while meet is the
present tense of
when you come together with someone and see them with your two eyes like the 2
es in meet.
The past tense is met and the present participle is met.
mine, mind
The word mine can be a hole in the ground from which coal, gravel, etc. is dug
and it can also be
personal pronoun like this book was written by me and it belongs to me. It is mine.
The mind is like
ones dumb brain. Please note the ds in both words.
miner, minor
A miner with the er ending is someone who mines while the minor is
someone who is under
twenty-one years of age. Please note the o in one and the o in minor. Minors
seem to frequently
complain about being below drinking age.
midst, mist
Midst is being in the middle of something like a swarm of bees with the d in
midst and middle
giving you warning. A mist is just water vapor that can blur ones vision.

moral, morale, morel

Moral means conformity with culturally accepted goodness in conduct/behavior
while morale
means enthusiasm to suffer hardship. Please see the e in morale and the e in
enthusiasm.
Morel refers to either an edible mushroom or a poisonous plant. Be careful which
you eat as some of you may find yourself in el or hell.
naval, navel
Naval is an adjective referring to any countrys navy although some land-locked
countries do not
have navies. Your navel is your belly button. Please note the e in both navel
and belly.
night, knight
Night means after sunset when there is no light. Please see the n in night and
the n in no,
while a knight in the olden days carried a lance which looked like the k in
knight.
of, off
Of is one of the many English prepositions which are words that can describe a
rabbit on the
mountain. Of specifically refers to something coming from something." For
example, he is an example
of a jerk. Off with the double ffs means away from something. I tell my cats to
get off the table
and rarely say it calmly. Those double ffs are like a hiss.
or, ore
Ore comes from a mine. Please note the e in ore and mine.
pail, pale
Pail is a thing that is made of medal or plastic, usually waterproof, that I use to
carry something like a

water or milk pail. Please note the I in pail while pale refers to ale or beer. If
I drink too much
ale/beer I will vomit and get pale.
past, passed
Past is a noun or verb that refers to something is at least a few seconds old.
Everyone since birth has a
past while passed is the past tense of pass as I have been too often passed in
running, bicycling, or
swimming races.
patience, patient
Patience means to wait without complaining, while patients is what you do not
want to be, a patient
of one of the usually greedy doctors in the US. Please note the t in not and the
t in patient.
peace, piece
Peace is absence of war while piece is what I want, like a piece of cake.
Please see the I in both
piece and i.
peak, peek
Peak refers to a mountain top while peek is a short look done with your two
eyes. Please note the two
es in peek.
pedal, petal, peddle
Pedal with the d means to pedal a bicycle till you almost die. Please see the
d in pedal and
die, while petal is a piece of a flower that you can touch and not get hurt. Please
see the t in
both petal and touch. Peddle means to go from place to place selling
something with the two ds
referring to what peddlers do.. Peddlers walking from door to door are now very
rare; whereas there many

items being peddling on e-Bay, the modern way.

persecute,. prosecute
Persecute means to oppress cruelly; whereas prosecute means to enforce by
legal procedures.
You can distinguish between these two words by looking at the o in prosecute
and the o in enforce.
personal, personnel
Personal means peculiar to the person while personnel means the people
employed to do the work. A trick
to tell the difference between the two words is to note the nel in personnel. A
Nell does the work in personnel.
in a corporation.
perspective, prospective
Perspective means to draw/paint items on a flat surface so that they appear the
way they appear in
regular vision while prospective has the prefix pro in it which means coming
ahead so prospective
means something that is ahead like a prospective client/patient.
picture,. pitcher
A pitcher has many meanings including someone who throws a ball or something
that holds a liquid
that can be poured from it. There is her in pitcher and her pitch or her pouring
of the milk from the
pitcher. plain, plane
The word plain can mean flat level ground or something/person that lacks
decoration or beauty while
plane can mean smooth and can be so smooth that it flies through the air like an
airplane. I see the I in
plain and remember that I have been called plain":
pole, poll

That pole has the single l that sticks up into the sky like a telephone pole while
the poll where
information/votes are collected. Please see the ll in poll and collected.
pore, pour, poor
A pore is a tiny opening and one can dream for gold ore with pour being a
verb to more liquid
which is something that our mother always does. Doesnt she pour milk? Poor
has the 2 os which
refer to the two os in too as there are too many people who have too little
money so they are poor. I
believe that there are poor people just people who make poor choices regarding
their money.
pray, prey
Pray has that ray in it which shines from heaven when you pray, while prey
is something that is
hunted to kill and eat. Please see the e in prey and eat.
presence, presents
Presence means to be in a particular place, while presents are usually gifts that
are sent by someone
to you. You should always write a proper thank you note.
precede, proceed
Precede has the prefix pre which always means before while proceed has
pro which means
going ahead of.
predominant, predominate
Predominant is an adjective or descriptive word which means to dominate while
predominate
is a verb which means to be superior over others.
principal, principle

Principal is usually the head of a school and he was always my pal as I was sent
by my teachers to see
him so often. Principal can also mean main with both words having that
important a.
A:principle refers to moral beliefs.
profit, prophet
Profit means making money, that is, being financially fit while a prophet: is
always someone who
speaks for God. Please notice the o from God and the he. This writer refuses to
get down to the
nitty-gritty of religion as it can be dangerous job wise and some religious fanatics
believe in burning down
houses or even murder.
prophecy, prophesy
A prophecy is a noun and is a prediction by Gods guidance of a future event and
prophesy is a
verb that means to predict something under divine guidance.
prose, propose
Prose is written language without rhyme/rhythm while to propose is to get
down on that knee
pose and ask someone to marry you.
quiet, quite, quit
Quiet refers to something that you would say to someone who ets or eats
nosily, while quite
has the e that is also in very but quit means to just simply STOP.
raise, rise
Raise is the present tense of to elevate something like ones hand, while rise"
means to get up.
respectfully, respectively

Respectfully means to show honor or esteem for someone/something while

respectively means
relating individually to two or more persons or things. Notice the is in
individually and in
respectively.
right, rite, write
Write is to form sentences on paper or word processor with the w referring to
the up and downs of
composing. Rite is like a religious ceremony and right is a direction or can mean
correct. This word
"right" is extremely confusing when speaking as one be directing someone to make
a right turn and then say
right when he/she does it correctly. "Right," you say and the person makes another
right turn.
ring, wring A ring is a piece of jewelry that goes around a finger. Please note all
those rs while to wring
is to twist a cloth as when trying to squeeze it dry. Please note the w in wring
and the w in twist.:
road, rode
On a road you can find a toad which is like a frog but rode is a verb which is the
past tense of ride.
role, roll
Role is a character that an actor plays while roll can be a bread-like thing that
one eats. The 2 ls
mean that I want more than one roll but would not roll around on the ground to
get two.
sail, sale
Sail is one of those nouns that can be a verb. It is a piece of heavy cloth tied on a
boat so that the
wind can propel the boat forward. Sale goes back to that ale already mentioned.
It refers to something

that is being sold at a lower price like that ale on sale.

sat, set
Set means always to put or place anything. Please note the e in both set
and place. It is
also an irregular verb but remains set in all tenses. However, sat is the past
tense of sit.
sense, since
Since always means time. Please note the I in time and since
shone, shown
Shone means the light from the sun or some other light source. Please note the
one in shone and
one other light source. Shown is the past participle of shine.
shudder, shutter
Shutter is the thing that protects a window and since there are least two windows
in most houses
please see the two s while the 2 ds in shudder refer to shake.
straight,. strait
A strait is a narrow body of water between two pieces of land while a horizontal
line is
straight. Please note the as in both words but please notice that "ght" at the
end of straight.
staid, stayed
Staid is something proper/passive that I have never been accused of while
stayed in the regular past
tense of to stay or to remain.
stake, steak
A steak is a piece of meat that you eat. Note the ea in both steak and eat.
stationary, stationery

Stationary means to remain in place. Please note the as in stationary and

place; whereas stationery
is something that you write on. Please see the es in both stationery and write.
steal, steel
Steal is the present tense of to take something that doesnt belong to you but
steel is a manufactured
metal that requires two eyes to see. Please note the 2 es in both steel and
see.
suit, suite
A suite usually is a group of rooms that have an attached toilet so please see
the e in suite and in
toilet.
summary, summery
A summary is to state briefly. Please note the as in both summary and state
briefly while summery
means summer-like.
than, then
Than always means comparison. Please see the as in comparison and
than. Then always
means time. Please see the es in time and then.
their, there, theyre, therere
Their is always possessive as when two people of opposite genders are in a car,
its always his turn to
drive. Never mind that men per passenger mile driven have far more accidents than
women. Please see the
is in both their and his. There is always a place, like here. Theyre is
nothing but a contraction of they are and therere is also a mere contraction
there are.
threw, through, thorough, thought

Threw is the past tense of throw while through can be seen as thr and
thorough has that
rough in it which means that someone has to do something completely. Thought
is both a noun and a
verb which is the past tense of think.
too, to, two Too is like 100 degrees F. in Florida which is too hot while to is
always a direction. Two is
simply the numeral 2 written. If you cant remember this, just know that the w
in two has two
wings.
tract, track
Tract is a pamphlet or leaflet for which one can respond to or act. Please see the
act in tract while
your track is the footprints you leave when you are fleeing from the police who
can have you roasted on
a rack.
your, youre
Your is always possessive with the our proving it to you, while youre is just
another dull
contraction for you are.
vain, vein, vane
Vain has the beginning of aint in it and I aint vain. Vein which carries blood
or nutrients in the
case of leaves has the e" in common with leaves.: Vane usually refers to
weather vanes which
show the direction of the wind and are rarely used these days.
waist, waste
Waist has an I in it which I how I small I want my waist to be.
wander, wonder

Wander has an a in it which means to meander around while wonder has an

o in it which is shows
how your mouth opens when you hear something than amazes you. You have a big
round mouth
like an o.
weak, week
Week has those 2 es for the blessed weekend of two days.
weather, whether
Weather has rain with an a in both weather and rain.
were, wear, where, were
Wear has an ear in it and one must wear some kind of ear covering in cold
weather. Where means
you are being questioned about a place and you always answer here.".: Were is
another usually
boring contraction for we are.:
whose, whos
Whose is always possessive and can be easily remembered by Whose panty
hose are you wearing?
Whos is another very boring contraction for who is.
worst, worse
Worst in the superlative of bad which is an irregular comparison. Its always bad,
worse for two, and
worst for the absolute worst. Note the st which sounds like a hiss at the end.
write, right
Write has that r in it which begins the word read. One must always write
something before it can
be read. Note the rs after the w. Also, one must write to please the right or
conservatives and
hopefully one will write with his/her right hand. In the olden days, people who wrote
with left hands

were told that their mothers mated with the devil as it wasnt right.