Homophones

Homophones are words that sound similar to another word but have different spellings and meanings. Understanding homophones can help you in building your vocabulary. Only if you learn the spellings and meanings of the homophones will you be able to use them correctly.

Homophones	Part of Speech	Examples
Bear Bare	Noun/Verb Adjective	Have you seen a bear? I am not able to bear the pain. We don’t suggest you walk barefoot on the hike.
Break Brake	Noun/Verb Noun/Verb	I need a break. Did you break the glass? Please apply the brakes. It is not good that you brake abruptly in the middle of the road.
Blew Blue	Verb Adjective	The wind blew swiftly. I have a blue skirt.
Wine Whine	Noun Verb	Have you ever tasted wine? Angela keeps whining about everything all the time.
Sole Soul	Noun /Adjective Noun	My shoes’ sole tore after the game. His sole aim of appearing in competitive examinations was to get into a government job. She hoped his soul would rest in peace.
Heir Hair	Noun Noun	Who is the next heir to the British throne? She has really long hair.
Maze Maize	Noun Noun	This route is such a maze. Maize is one of the chief agricultural crops.
Heal Heel	Verb Noun	Sitting near a water source heals my soul. My heel is paining badly since we had been walking all day.
Ate Eight	Verb Adjective	They ate rice and curry for lunch. We have eight rabbits at home.
Dear Deer	Adjective Noun	This is my dear brother. We saw a deer on the way to the Nilgiris.
Jeans Genes	Noun Noun	Salviya bought a new pair of jeans. You have my genes.
Serial Cereal	Noun Noun	Do you like to watch serials? We have cereal for breakfast when we are in the hostel.

Check Your Understanding of Homophones

Fill in the blanks by choosing the right homophone from the homophone pairs given in brackets in the following sentences.

1. We saw a _______ (bear/bare) on our way to Ooty.

2. This cupboard is made of _________. (Steal/steel)

3. The ________ (soul/sole) purpose of this visit was to resolve the issues between us.

4. I ________ (sell/cell) second-hand cars for a living.

5. We booked the upper ________ (berth/birth) for our trip.

6. Did you ________ (caste/cast) your votes?

7. Can you please give us a _______ (brake/break)?

8. Does the class have a smart _________ (bored/board)?

9. Do you have the ________ (flour/flower) to make cookies?

10. Every day, my sister wakes up at ________ (eight/ate) in the morning.