Homophones

A homophone is one of a set of words that are all pronounced alike, but are spelled differently. There are several of these words that I see mistaken fairly often, and it drives me out of my skull. Therefore, I am going to put together a little list of commenly mistaken homophones. If you have a pair, let me know!



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Grammar and Spelling



The List of Homophones

Patients/Patience

Patients - two or more people under medical care.
Patience - a virtue, the ability to keep one's focus and concentration even when forced to wait on something.

Mussels/Muscles

Mussels - a shelled mollusk, rather like a clam or oyster (plural).
Muscles - groups of tissue in the body, used for motion.

To/Two/Too

You know what these mean. Just keep them in mind.

Plain/Plane

Plain - 1. ordinary, unspectacular. 2. a large stretch of grassland.
Plane - 1. short for 'airplane.' 2. A surface in space. 3. A dimensional area of existence.

Bear/Bare

Bear - 1. To carry, either literally, or figuratively. 2. A large animal with powerful claws and a sizable butt. Also a famous stuffed animal.
Bare - 1. Naked, uncovered 2. empty, without substance 3. slight (loosely) as in a bare inch.

Board/Bored

Board - 1. a flat piece of wood 2. A playing surface or a stage in a game. 3. A council.
Bored - 1. Having sense of apathy brought about by a lack of interest. 2. Having drilled a hole into something.

They're/Their/There

They're - The shortened version of "they are".
Their - the possessive form of "they".
There - A word that expresses place; location other than here.

Allowed/Aloud

Allowed - The past tense of the verb "allow" (admit, grant, accept etc.).
Aloud - 1. Adverb, the opposite of "silently" or "quietly". 2. Out loud, meant to be heard.

Your/You're

Your - Possessive form of you.
You're - Contraction, short for you are.

Pray/Prey

Pray - Verb meaning to offer praise or to petition a higher authority; hence prayer.
Prey - Verb meaning attack, hunt, depredate, victimize;
              Noun meaning game, quarry, victim.

Lose/Loose

Lose - Verb meaning to fail to win or keep.
Loose - 1. Adjective meaning not thick, taut or restrained, etc. 2. Verb meaning to free or make looser.

Threw/Through

Threw - Past tense of the verb "throw"; to toss something.
Through - Adverb, preposition, from the beginning to the end.




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