Homophones Definition and Examples: What are Homophones?

What are homophones? Homophones are words that have the same pronunciation as other words but have different meanings. They can even be spelt differently. Here are some examples of homophones: flower-flour, been-bean, meet-meat, pair-pear, sauce-source... In these examples the homophones are in bold. Check out our homophones infographic below.

Homophone Sentence Examples

It can be tricky learning homophones due to the words having the same pronunciation but different meanings and spellings. Below is a list of homophones that can arm you with lots of vocabulary. Have a go and make your own sentences with the homophones poster and words below.

Homophone list:
air-heir
aisle-isle
ale — ail
all ready — already
all together — altogether
all ways — always
all — awl
ant — aunt
basil — basal
basis — bases
bass — base
baste — based
bate — bait
bated — baited
cell — sell
cellar — seller
censor — sensor
cent — scent — sent
die — dye
diffused — defused
disburse — disperse
discreet — discrete
disperse — disburse
fair — fare
fairy — ferry
fare — fair
fate — fete
faun — fawn
gorilla — guerrilla
gourd — gored
grade — greyed
graft — graphed
hail — hale
hair — hare
hale — hail
hall — haul
illicit — elicit
illusion — allusion
meteor — meatier
mints — mince
missal — missile
missed — mist
misses — Mrs.
missile — missal
mist — missed
morning — mourning
mote — moat
mourn — morn
mourning — morning
mousse — moose
mowed — mode
pistil — pistol
plum — plumb
read — red
read — reed
real — reel
red — read
rode — road
sauce — source
scene — seen
see — sea
side — sighed
soar — sore
sole — soul
some — sum
sort — sought
stare — stair
stationary — stationery
steal — steel
stile — style
sun — son
tail — tale
theirs — there’s
there — they’re — their
there’s — theirs
they’re — their — there
weighs — ways
weight — wait
we’ll — wheel
were — whir

Homophone Games and Worksheets

Looking for more resources related to homophones? Check out our comprehensive list of worksheets and video games. Download worksheets and play interactive games for free.

Grammar Rules

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