List of English homographs

Homographs are words that are spelled the same yet have different meaning. They may be pronounced differently in speech.

Note: BrE = British English, AmE = American English. When not given, the pronunciation is similar in the two both dialects.

The words in this list have the same spelling but different pronunciations.

• abstract
  • /ˈæbstrækt/ (a), (n)
  • /æbˈstrækt/ (v)
• abuse
  • /əˈbjuːs/ (n) There is a time, the hoary head of inveterate abuse will neither draw reverence, nor obtain protection.
  • /əˈbjuːz/ (v) It is the characteristic of the English drunkard to abuse his wife and family.
• address
  • AmE and BrE /əˈdrɛs/ (v)
  • AmE /ˈædrɛs/ BrE /əˈdrɛs/ (n)
• allied
  • /əˈlaɪd/ (a) The vice is of a great kindred: it is well allied.
  • /ˈælaɪd/ (a) The Treaty of Vienna had bound the Allied Powers to make war together upon Napoleon.
• ally
  • /ˈælaɪ/ (n) He became the ally of a boy named Aubrey Mills and founded with him a gang of adventurers in the avenue.
  • /əˈlaɪ/ (v) No foreign power will ally with us.
• articulate
  • /ɑrˈtɪkjəleɪt/ (v) The tourists are the ones who always try to articulate every syllable when they speak the language.
  • /ɑrˈtɪkjəlɪt/ (a) In one decade, the image of youth went from radicals uttering rage-filled rhetoric to the much less articulate valley girl or surfer wannabe.
• axes
  • /ˈæksəz/ (v) The lumberjack axes the trees to the ground. (third-person singular simple present of to axe/ax)
  • /ˈæksəz/ (n) I cut down the tree with two axes. (plural of axe/ax)
  • /ˈæksiːz/ (n) The x and y axes intersect at (0,0). (plural of axis)
• ay/aye
  • /ˈaɪ/ (adv) He voted aye on the legislation he had sponsored.
  • /ˈeɪ/ (adv) They vowed their undying love for aye.
• bass
  • /ˈbeɪs/ (n) Joey auditioned for the band while it was seeking someone to play bass.
  • /ˈbæs/ (n) The store was selling an animatronic bigmouth bass that would open its mouth and sing "Take Me to the River" whenever someone passed by.
• bow
  • /ˈbaʊ/ (v) Satoshi always made sure to bow before the emperor.
  • /ˈboʊ/ (n) The hordes of warriors making their way through the forest fought with bow and arrow.
• buffet
  • AmE /bəˈfeɪ/, BrE /ˈbʌfeɪ/ (n) Steamed clams, prawns in mustard sauce and barbecued lamb with cilantro sat at the left edge of the buffet table.
  • /ˈbʌfət/ (v) It takes a catastrophe every now and then to buffet the nation out of its laziness and complacency.
• close
  • /ˈkloʊz/ (v) Cliff still has to close his eyes to be able to eat calamari.
  • /ˈkloʊs/ (a) It seemed that the story in the newspaper had hit a little too close to home.
• concert
  • /ˈkɒnsərt/ (n) We saw the kd lang in concert.
  • /kənˈsɜrt/ (v) We had to concert all our energy to stay awake.
• confines
  • /ˈkɒnfaɪnz/ (n pl) Work within the confines of the contract.
  • /kənˈfaɪnz/ (v) But the contract confines my creativity!
• conflict
  • /ˈkɒnflɪkt/ (n) The mother said to her belligerent son, "Violence is no way to resolve conflict!"
  • /kənˈflɪkt/ (v) The two news reports seem to conflict each other.
• console
  • /ˈkɒnsʊl/ (n) The boy was addicted to playing on his video game console.
  • /kənˈsʊl/ (v) Since they had raised him from birth, Jack and Jill had to console each other after their dog died.
• contract
  • /ˈkɒntrækt/ (n) The contract was supposed to expire seven years after it was signed.
  • /kənˈtrækt/ (v) Derek firmly stated that he would rather contract pneumonia and die than stand outside wearing that ridiculous pink and green poncho.
• coop
  • /ˈkup/ (n)
  • /ˈkoʊ.ɒp/ (n) also co-op
• crooked
  • /ˈkrʊkt/ (v) I crooked my arm to show the sleeve.
  • /ˈkrʊkɪd/ (a) Unfortunately, that just made the sleeve looked crooked.
• des
  • /də/ (n) I moved from Seattle about 10 miles south to Des Moines.
  • /deɪ/ (n) I needed a big dog, so I bought a Bouvier des Flandres.
  • /dɛz/ (n) We spent the day in Vegas, and at night drove out to the des.
  • /dɛz/ Hated Chicago, so we moved to Des Plaines.
• desert
  • /dəˈzɜrt/ (v) To desert the military is a crime.
  • /ˈdɛzərt/ (n) The Gobi is a large desert in Asia.
• discard
  • /ˈdɪskɑrd/ (n) Toss it in the discard pile.
  • /dɪsˈkɑrd/ (v) But I don't want to discard it!
• do
  • /ˈduː/, /də/ (v) What do you think you are doing?
  • /ˈdoʊ/ (n) To warm-up, the singer sang the scale from do.
• dos
  • /ˈduːz/
  • /ˈdoʊs/
• does
  • /ˈdʌz/, /dəz/ (v) When someone does something right it does not make headlines, but when someone does something wrong it does.
  • /ˈdoʊz/ (n) Even during hunting season, the hunters are required by law to shoot only the bucks and not the does.
• dogged
  • /ˈdɒɡd/ (v) At night proctors patrolled the street and dogged your steps if you tried to go into any haunt where the presence of vice was suspected. (Samuel Butler, The Way of All Flesh)
  • /ˈdɒɡɪd/ (a) Still, the dogged obstinacy of his race held him to the pace he had set, and would hold him till he dropped in his tracks. (Jack London, The Son of the Wolf)
• dove
  • /ˈdʌv/ (n) The dove is a kind of bird.
  • /ˈdoʊv/ (v) He dove into the pool. (BrE uses "dived" instead)
• ellipses
  • /ɪˈlɪpsɪz/ (n) The orbits of planets are ellipses. (plural of ellipse)
  • /ɪˈlɪpsiːz/ (n) I use ellipses to denote omissions in quotations. (plural of ellipsis)
• en
  • /ɑːn/ (prep) Steve suffered a massive heart attack en route to the Cypress Hill concert.
  • /ˈɛn/ (attributive) When the editor transferred the article on the Internet from blog to newspaper, he had to change several improperly used en dashes to em dashes and fix up the semicolons here and there.
• entrance
  • /ɛnˈtræns/ (v) The Target icon served to entrance shoppers while at the mall.
  • /ˈɛntrəns/ (n) His entrance was a flourish, evoking Oscar Wilde.
• grace
  • /ˈɡreɪs/ (n) Janice knew exactly what was coming up when Clay started in on another one of his long expositions on how we had all fallen from grace and needed Jesus' love to save us.
  • /ˈɡrɑːs/ (n) When Sen. Hutton had not only stumped his challenger in the debate but displayed a photograph revealing him as a wife-swapping hypocrite, that was the coup de grace.
• house
  • /ˈhaʊs/ (n) "Jane, Jane, the house is on fire!" (Edward P. Roe, He Fell In Love With His Wife)
  • /ˈhaʊz/ (v) If a slave could escape to the swamps or the forest and elude the bloodhounds on his track, he knew that at certain points he would find those who were prepared to house him, and, passing him on secretly from station to station, ensure his arrival at a terminus where he would be safe for life. (Walter Hawkins, Old John Brown)
• incense
  • /ˈɪnsɛns/ (n) Dad, I was at the farmer's market, and bought this incense.
  • /ɪnˈsɛns/ (v) Big mistake. If you burn it here, you'll incense your mother.
• lead
  • /ˈlɛd/ (n) Water travelled through ancient Rome through lead pipes.
  • /ˈliːd/ (v) The mother duck can lead her ducklings around.
• learned
  • /ˈlɜrnɪd/ (a) The learned professor taught several subjects in the university.
  • /ˈlɜrnd/ (v) I learned Mandarin at school.
• lima
  • /ˈlaɪmə/ (attributive) The kids on You Can't Do That on Television always dreaded being served liver and lima beans.
  • /ˈliːmə/ (pn) Sancho rode his donkey through the mountains of Lima.
• live
  • /ˈlɪv/ (v) I don't need you to determine whether I live or die.
  • /ˈlaɪv/ (a) I went to see James Brown live in concert.
• minute
  • /ˈmɪnɪt/ (n) The guests are going to start flooding in any minute now.
  • /maɪˈnjuːt/ (a) Though I thought the sandals all looked the same color, Tiffany had to explain the minute differences between umber, burnt umber and terracotta.
• mobile
  • AmE /ˈmoʊbiːl/, BrE /ˈmoʊbaɪl/ (n) The baby sat in awe at the bright colors on the mobile.
  • AmE /ˈmoʊbəl/, BrE /ˈmoʊbaɪl/ (a) Although most animals are mobile, the sponge is sessile.
  • /ˈmoʊbiːl/ (pn) They packed up their trailer and moved from Auburn to Mobile.
• moped
  • /ˈmoʊpt/ (v) Depressed, he moped around the house for days.
  • /ˈmoʊpɛd/ (n) She drove her new moped to school.
• number
  • /ˈnʌmbər/ (n) four is a number.
  • /ˈnʌmər/ (a)
  • /əˈblaɪdʒ/
  • /oʊˈbliːʒ/
• overall
  • /oʊvər.ˈɔːl/ (a) Overall, we didn't do too badly.
  • /ˈoʊvər.ɔːl/ (a) Are you kidding? We were an overall failure!
• polish
  • /ˈpɒlɪʃ/ (v) You need to polish those boots.
  • /ˈpoʊlɪʃ/ (a) I'm of Polish ancestry.
• present
  • /ˈprɛzənt/ (a) All need to be present for a unanimous vote.
  • /ˈprɛzənt/ (n) I need to buy my sister a present for her birthday.
  • /ˈprɛzənt/ (n) "He who neglects the present moment throws away all he has." (Friedrich Schiller)
  • /prəˈzɛnt/ (v) He will present his ideas to the Board of Directors tomorrow.
• primer
  • /ˈpraɪmər/ (n) Apply a coat of primer before you paint.
  • AmE /ˈprɪmər/ (n) Open your primer to page 12, and we'll begin reading.
• produce
  • AmE /ˈproʊduːs/ BrE /ˈprɒdjuːs/ (n) The Americans only consume a small portion of this produce, and they are willing to sell us the rest. (Alexis de Tocqueville, American Institutions And Their Influence)
  • /prəˈdjuːs/ (v) The judicial power is by its nature devoid of action; it must be put in motion in order to produce a result. (Alexis de Tocqueville, American Institutions And Their Influence)
• project
  • /ˈprɒdʒɪkt/ (n) The project deadline is next week.
  • AmE /prɵˈdʒɛkt/ (v) The diva can project her voice to the back of the theater.
• putting
  • /ˈpʌtɪŋ/ (v) The final step in each hole in golf is putting the ball across the green into the cup.
  • /ˈpʊtɪŋ/ (v) She is putting on a show for you.
• ragged
  • /ˈræɡd/ (v) She ragged on me about my ragged jeans.
  • /ˈræɡɪd/ (a) But my ragged jeans are my trademark, I responded.
• read
  • /ˈriːd/ (n) The new Robin Cook book is an awful read.
  • /ˈriːd/ (v: present tense, infinitive) Yes, I do read that newspaper every day.
  • /ˈrɛd/ (v: past tense, past participle) Once I had read the note I tore it into little bits and swallowed them.
• real
  • /ˈriːl/ (a) My '67 El Camino is the real deal.
  • /reɪˈɑːl/ (n) When I drive it down El Camino Real, all the girls stop and stare.
• record
  • AmE /ˈrɛkərd/ BrE /ˈrɛkɔːd/ (n) She played a vinyl record on her old turntable.
  • /ˈrɛkərd/ (n) Strike the testimony from the record.
  • /rɪˈkɔrd/ (v) Did he record the concert with his camcorder?
• refuse
  • /rɪˈfjuːz/ (v) If you refuse the background check, we cannot hire you.
  • /ˈrɛfjuːs/ (n) Please clean up all of your refuse.
• resume
  • /rɪˈzjuːm/ (v) Resume breathing or you will surely faint!
  • /ˈrɛzjʊmeɪ/ (n) My resume makes ample use of the font Impact. (however this may not be a true homograph since the latter form is correctly spelled "résumé")
• riches
  • /ˈrɪtʃɪz/ (n) The stranger was much pleased with the great number of shops full of merchandize, lighted up to the best advantage. He was astonished at the display of riches in Lombard-Street and Cheapside. (Tobias Smollett, Travels through France and Italy)
  • /ˈriːʃ/ (n) (part of nouveau riches) Whatever is left of politics in this world of nouveau riches and nouveau Russes, is now spelled with a very small "p." (Gregory Freidin, "Moscow Nouveau: From the Barricades to Business", Los Angeles Times, August 21, 1994)
• root
  • /ˈruːt/ or /ˈrʊt/) (n) The tree's root was rotted.
  • /ˈruːt/ (v) A pig can be trained to root for mushrooms.
• row
  • /ˈraʊ/ (n) The vicar and parson had an awful row at the tavern.
  • /ˈroʊ/ (n) The convicted murderer spent years on Death Row.
  • /ˈroʊ/ (v) What I really wanted besides career and marriage and kids and comfort was, I decided, to learn how to row boats and how to race them: four- and eight-man boats first, then two-man boats, then, finally and preeminently, a single scull. (Barry Strauss, Rowing against the Current)
• separate
  • /ˈsɛprɪt/ (a) This should be divided into packets of ten cartridges each, which should be rolled up in flannel and hermetically sealed in separate tin canisters. (Samuel W. Baker, The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia)
  • /ˈsɛpəreɪt/ (v) To stalk these wary antelopes I was obliged to separate from my party, who continued on their direct route. (Samuel W. Baker, The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia)
• sewer
  • /ˈsjuː.ər/ (n) Broken sewer pipes can be a smelly mess.
  • /ˈsoʊ.ər/ (n) "We might choose the best sewers and let them put in at least a few stitches, so that they can feel they have a share in it." (Kate Douglas Wiggin, The Flag-Raising)
• sow
  • /ˈsaʊ/ (n) The sow suckled her newborn piglets.
  • /ˈsoʊ/ (v) The farmer will sow oats in the back forty.
• tear
  • /ˈtɛər/ (v) & (n) and haven't they been ready to tear the clothes off my back too? (Henrik Ibsen, An Enemy of the People)
  • /ˈtɪər/ (n) Second, the greatest and last of the Hohenstaufen, or refrain from dropping a tear over his sad failure. (O. A. Brownson, The American Republic)
• tier
  • /ˈtɪər/ (n) Our seats are in the third tier of the stadium.
  • /ˈtaɪ.ər/ (n) Will the tier be around to make these knots?
• use
  • /ˈjuːz/ (v) Use a napkin!
  • /ˈjuːs/ (n) What's the use? It's all down my shirt.
• vie
  • /ˈvaɪ/
  • /ˈviː/
• voyage
  • /ˈvɔɪ.ədʒ/
  • /vɔɪˈɑːʒ/
• whoop
  • /ˈhwʊp/ (v) Pa says he's gonna whoop you good if you don't learn some manners!
  • /ˈhwuːp/ (v) When they scored a goal, he began to whoop and holler.
• wind
  • /ˈwaɪnd/ (v) How did we wind up in Kansas?
  • /ˈwɪnd/ (n) The wind blew from the northeast.
• won
  • /ˈwʌn/ (v, pt) After we won the match, we went out for won tons.
  • /ˈwɒn/ (a) Boiled won tons are called swei jyau; fried, they're called jyau dz.
• wound
  • /ˈwaʊnd/ (v) The rope was wound around his wrists.
  • /ˈwuːnd/ (n) She died from a fatal chest wound.

Some words are nouns or adjectives when the accent is on the first syllable and verbs when it is on the second.

When the prefix "re-" is prepended to a monosyllabic word, and the word gains currency both as a noun and as a verb, it will probably fit into this pattern, although, as the list below makes clear, most words fitting this pattern do not match that description.