I like to read, and my brain picks up on homophones: words with different spellings (and meanings) but which are pronounced the same way.

So here we go: a small list of homophones in approximate alphabetical order which I intend to update as I read/think of more.

Where a word is unusual, I will include a little gloss to help clarify its meaning.

New rule as of 20/5/2025: I won't include words which are homophonous solely by virtue of accent ('free' and the Cockney 'three' for example). Assume British RP here.

I use the fifth edition Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as a reference: if it is in there, it counts. If an entry therein can be correctly conjugated or pluralized to form a homophone, then it counts. 'Coal' is a verb, so the past tense is 'coaled', homophonous with 'cold'. 'Sigh' can be pluralized to 'sighs', homophonous with 'size'.

Dan's list of homophones (updated 13 Jun 2025, 21 Jul 25, 22 Jul 25):

• air, heir, ere (before), eyre (itinerant, usually referring to a circuit judge).
• aisle, isle
• ale, ail
• all, awl
• altar, alter
• ait (a small island in a river, also spelled eyot), ate, eight
• amend, emend (edit or correct a written document)
• aught (anything), ought
• awe, or, ore
• aweful, awful
• apprise (to inform), apprize (to assess the monetary value of something)
• auk (the bird), orc (the mythical monster)
• baccy (tobacco), backie (a ride on the back of one's bike)
• bad, bade (past tense of bid, in the sense of invite someone to do something)
• bait, bate (for a bird to beat its wings in agitation)
• bald, balled, bawled
• bail, bale
• ball, bawl
• bare, bear
• bard, barred
• bark, barque (a small sailing ship)
• bazaar, bizarre
• beach, beech
• beat, beet
• beer, bier
• bell, belle
• berth, birth
• blew, blue
• bloc (a political group), block
• boar, bore, boor (an uncivilized brute)
• bi, buy, by, bye
• bight (a loop in a rope or the course of a river), bite, byte
• born, borne, bourn (boundary or limit)
• bowl, bole (a tree trunk), boll (a seed capsule)
• bow* (of a ship), bough (a big branch)
• bow* (a ribbon), beau (a lover)
• Braille, brail (cord used to tie up a sail)
• brake, break
• breach, breech
• brooch, broach
• broch (a stone tower), brock (an old word for a badger)
• burn, byrne (a coat of mail)
• buyer, byre
• but, butt
• call, caul (a piece of amniotic membrane attached to a baby's head at birth, once considered to be very lucky)
• calve, carve
• car, ka (the ancient Egyptian concept of the spirit or soul
• cache, cash
• caught, court
• cause, caws
• cellar, seller
• censer (a container for incense in a church), censor
• cent, sent, scent
• cheap, cheep
• cite, sight, site
• come, cum (Yeah yeah--I mean the Latin for 'with' as in 'kitchen cum living room'.)
• conker, conquer
• council, counsel
• cousin, cozen (to trick or deceive)
• cowl (a head covering), cawl (a Welsh stew). These words are genuinely homophones.
• crews, cruise
• current, currant
• cue, queue
• cymbal, symbol
• dam, damn
• daw (a jackdaw), door
• days, daze. I'm setting the rules here, so plurals are allowed ;p
• dear, deer
• die, dye
• discreet, discrete
• discussed, disgust. Totally allowing this, and as many other past-tense homophones as I can find.
• done, dun ('Dun' is wonderfully homonymous. It can mean a dull brownish grey, or a horse of that colour. It can mean a fort in Ireland--you will see it place names. It can also mean to make persistent demands for money, or someone who does this.)
• dew, due
• draft, draught
• draw, drawer
• earn, urn
• er (expressing uncertainty), err (to stray or do wrong)
• eruption, irruption. An eruption is a violent outburst; an irruption is a violent entry.
• eve, eave (the part of a roof which overhangs a wall)
• ewe, you
• fain (glad to do, in the circumstances), fane (a temple or shrine (thanks Horus Heresy novels)), feign (to falsify or fake an action)
• faint, feint
• fair, fare
• farther, father
• faun, fawn
• feat, feet
• fir, fur
• fish, phish (a modern and probably intentional homophone)
• flaw, floor
• flea, flee
• flour, flower
• for, fore, four
• foul, fowl
• fort, fought
• gaile (joy), gale
• gait (the manner of one's walk), gate
• gnaw, nor
• grate, great
• greave (armour for the forearm), grieve
• groin, groyne (a barrier built out in to the sea to reduce erosion)
• hair, hare
• hall, haul
• hart (a stag), heart
• hay, hey
• hays, heys, haze
• hear, here
• heard, herd
• he'd, heed
• heel, he'll
• hew (to cut), hue (colour)
• hi, hie, high
• higher, hire
• him, hymn
• hoard (a great stash), horde (an army or large number of things)
• hoare (silver-grey, or frost), whore, haw (a type of berry)
• hoarse, horse
• hold, holed (i.e. put a hole in to)
• hole, whole
• holy, wholly. No doubt many wisecracks have also been made in the past about holey.
• hour, our
• how, howe (a hill)
• humerus, humorous
• imminent (about to happen), immanent (intrinsic, or part of the essence of something)
• I, aye, eye
• idle, idol
• in, inn
• knead, kneed (kicked with the knee), need
• knight, night
• knock, nock (fit an arrow to a bowstring)
• knot, not
• know, no
• knows, nose
• laager (a defensive ring of horse-drawn wagons), lager
• laid, lade (fill up a ship with cargo)
• lain, lane
• lam (escaped or on the run), lamb
• law, lore
• lead (the metal), led
• licence, license. In the UK, practice is a noun and practise is a verb, and we draw a distinction. You will also see this below with practice/practise
• light, lite
• limb, limn (to illuminate)
• links, lynx
• load, lode (a vein of metal ore), lowed
• ma (mother), mar (spoil)
• made, maid
• mail, male
• main, mane
• maize, maze
• manner, manor
• mantle, mantel
• mark, marque
• maw, more
• mead (a fermented honey drink), meed (one's share of the winnings), Mede (an ancient civilization)
• meat, meet, mete (share or dish out)
• metal, mettle (constitution or mental strength)
• minah (the bird), miner, minor
• mind, mined
• missed, mist
• might, mite
• moat, mote (a tiny speck)
• moo, moue (a pout)
• morn(ing), mourn(ing)
• nay, nee, neigh
• none, nun
• one, won (past tense of 'win')
• out, owt (anything)
• pail, pale
• pain, pane
• pair, pare, pear
• pass, parse (examine the parts of a sentence to extract the meaning)
• passed, past
• patience, patients
• pawn, porn
• pea, pee
• peak, peek
• pedal, peddle
• pi, pie
• place, plaice
• plain, plane
• pleas, please
• poor, pore**, pour
• practice, practise.
• prince, prints
• prise, prize
• pros (plural of pro), prose
• psi, sigh
• raise, raze
• raw, roar
• ray, re, wray (an old word meaning denounce or betray)
• read (past tense of read), red.
• read (present tense of read ;p), rede (advice or counsel), reed
• roc (the bird of Arabic myth), rock
• rood (a quarter of an acre, or a crucifix placed in a church at the chancel), rude
• rough, ruff
• road, rode
• rose, rows
• rack, wrack
• rap, wrap
• rapt, wrapped
• ray, re
• real, reel
• reck (an old word for reckon), wreck
• ren (the ancient Egyptian idea of one's name or identity), wren
• reek, wreak
• rest, wrest
• rhyme, rime (a crust, usually of frost or ice)
• right, rite
• rye, wry
• sac, sack
• sail, sale
• saw, sore
• scene, seen
• scents, sense
• sea, see
• seam, seem
• seamen, semen
• set, sett (a badger's den) though I'm not so sure about this one.
• sew, so, sow
• shore, sure
• sic, sick
• sighs, size
• sign, sine
• sloe, slow
• sole, soul
• some, sum
• son, sun
• sort, sought
• spore, spoor (the scent or track of an animal)
• staid (solid and dependable), stayed
• stair, stare
• stationary (standing still), stationery (pens and paper).
• steal, steel
• storey, story
• straight, strait
• sty, stye
• tail, tale
• talk, torque
• tare, tear (a rip)
• team, teem
• tear (a drop of water from the eye), tier
• the (when followed by a vowel, as in 'the end'), thee
• there, their, they're
• threw, through
• thyme, time
• tide, tied
• toad, toed
• to, too, two
• toe, tow
• told, tolled (rang a bell)
• tough, tuff (rock formed from the compaction of volcanic ash)
• vain, vane, vein
• vale, veil
• vial, vile
• villain, villein (a feudal tenant)
• wain (a horse-drawn cart), wane
• waist, waste
• wait, weight
• wan (pale and sickly), won (Korean currency)
• want, wont (wont means habit, as in regular activity).
• war, wore
• ware (pottery; goods for sale; aware), wear, where
• warn, worn
• watt (the SI unit of power), what
• way, weigh
• we, wee (ha ha, I mean small)
• weather, whether, wether (a male sheep, as in 'bellwether')
• weir, we're
• when, wen (a boil or cyst)
• which, witch
• wile (a trick or ruse), while
• whine, wine
• whirled, world
• whit (a little bit), wit
• white, wight (a ghost or apparition; occasionally just means 'person')
• why, y (the letter), Wye (the river). Not sure if proper nouns should be included though.
• win, whin (gorse or bracken)
• wicker, whicker (the soft snorting noise a horse makes)
• wither, whither ('to which place')
• woe, woah
• wood, would
• worm, wyrm
• yaw, yore, your, you're

And just because today is the 21st of December 2024:

• you'll, Yule
• slay, sleigh

* Words like bow (to rhyme with 'now') and bow (to rhyme with 'know') are heteronyms. We se that the first is homophonous with 'bough', and the second with 'beau'.

**Words like pore, with the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings (here, a small opening in the skin, or to stare intently at, like to pore over a map) are homonyms. This example is also a homophone with poor and pour.