Words that sound similar, but have different meanings often cause confusion for learners studying the English language. You may also hear these referred to as homonyms, homophones or homographs.

Below are some examples of words with links to their explanations, definitions and example sentences.

• Accept / Except
• Affect / Effect
• Breath / Breathe
• Cite / Sight / Site
• Complement / Compliment
• Council / Counsel
• Hear / Here
• Its / It’s
• Lead / Led
• Lie / Lay
• Lose / Loose
• Passed / Past
• Principal / Principle
• Stationary / Stationery
• Their / There / They’re
• To / Too / Two
• Wether / Weather / Whether
• Who’s / Whose

Sources

1. Alexander, L. G. (2004). Right Word, Wrong Word: Words and Structures Confused and Misused by Learners of English. Essex: Longman.
2. Dowling, D. (2011). Wrong Word Dictionary: 2,500 Most Commonly Confused Words. Oak Park, IL: Marion Street Press.
3. Gooden, P. (2007). Who’s Whose?: A No-nonsense Guide to Easily Confused Words. London: A & C Black Publishers Ltd.