Hi and welcome to the Espresso English Podcast, where you can improve your English in just a few minutes a day.
My name is Shaina and I'm the teacher at Espresso English.
Make sure to visit the website EspressoEnglishnet, where you can get online courses and e-books that will help you learn English even faster.
Let's get started with today's lesson.
Lots of English words sound exactly the same but have completely different meanings, like waste and waste here and here, piece and piece.
These are called homophones and they confuse even advanced English learners.
Native speakers often make mistakes with these too.
In this lesson I'll quickly explain over a hundred of the most common homophones in English, so you can finally keep them straight.
We're going to run through these super fast, so make sure to download your free lesson PDF by clicking on the link in the video description.
You'll be able to review all the definitions with example sentences for each word.
If you're listening to this on the podcast, you'll especially want to download that PDF so you can see the spelling differences between these pairs of words, since they're pronounced exactly the same.
Okay, let's see how many of these you know.
We have aisle, meaning a corridor, and aisle, another word for island.
We have allowed, meaning permitted, and allowed, speaking and making sound.
We have ate, the past tense of eat, and ate, the number.
We have bear, meaning uncovered, and bear, the animal.
We have bury a small fruit, and bury, meaning to put something underground.
Have blue, which is the past tense of blow, and blue the color.
We have bore, which is a male pig, and bore meaning to drill or to cause boredom.
We have break, meaning to damage or break a stopping device for a vehicle.
We have buy, meaning purchase buy, which is short for goodbye, and the preposition by meaning near or next to.
We have ceiling, the top of a room, and sealing, meaning closing tightly.
We have scent, a tiny unit of money, and scent, meaning a smell.
We have cord, that's a musical sound of several notes together, and cord, meaning a rope or cable.
We have coarse, meaning rough, and coarse, meaning a class or a path.
We have compliment, which means praise, and compliment meaning something that matches well or completes.
We have do, which is water that appears on grass in the morning, and do meaning expected or owed, as well as do the verb meaning to take action.
We have die, meaning to stop living, and die, to change color.
We have I, the body part, and I, meaning me.
We have fair meaning.
Just and fair meaning the price of a transportation ticket like bus fare or airfare.
We have fur, which is a type of tree, and fur, meaning animal hair.
Flu is the past tense of fly, and the flu is an illness.
We have flower, which is a colorful plant, and flour, the white powder used in baking.
We have for, a preposition, and for, the number.
We have gate, which refers to the way you walk, and gate, meaning an entrance or a door.
We have grate, meaning to shred, and great meaning excellent.
We have heal meaning recover and heal the back part of your foot.
We have heard meaning a group of animals and heard the past tense of here.
We also have here meaning this place and here to listen.
We have him an object pronoun for a male and him meaning a religious song.
We have hire meaning employ, and higher meaning more elevated.
We have whole and opening and whole meaning complete.
We have our, a unit of time and our showing possession.
We have idle meaning inactive or lazy and idle meaning a person admired.
We have kernel, which means the core of something, or a little bit of corn before it becomes popcorn, and kernel, which is a military rank.
We have need, meaning to press and mix dough, and need to require.
We have night, which is a medieval soldier, and night, the dark time.
We have know, meaning understand, and know, the opposite of yes.
We have knows, that's third person of know, and knows, part of your face.
We have led, a soft metallic element, and led, the past tense of lead.
We have leak, That's an escape of liquid and leak, which is a type of vegetable.
We have loan, which is money borrowed and loan, meaning just one.
We have made the past tense of make and made a female servant.
We have male referring to letters and male, the opposite of female.
We have metal and award and metal to interfere.
We have meat to encounter. and meat, food from animals.
We have minor, that someone who works in a mine, and minor, meaning smaller, or someone under 18.
We have morning, the early part of the day, and morning, showing sadness and grief.
We have new, the opposite of old, and new, the past tense of no.
We have none, meaning zero amount, and none, referring to a religious woman.
We have one, the number, and one, the past tense of when.
We have pale, meaning a bucket, and pale, describing something that's light in color.
We have pain, when something hurts, and pain, meaning a section of a window.
We have pair, two things, like a pair of socks, and pair, the fruit.
We have past, referring to earlier time, and past, which is the past tense of past.
We have pause, a temporary stop, and pause meaning animal feet.
We have peace, calm or the absence of conflict, and peace meaning apart.
We have peak, meaning the top of something, and peak meaning a quick look.
We have plain, which means simple, and plain referring to an aircraft.
We have pour, to flow liquid, and pour the opposite of rich.
We have pray, to talk to God or ask something from God, and prey, an animal that is hunted.
We have principal, which is the leader or director of a school, and principal, which means a rule.
We have rain, referring to water from the sky, and rain, a verb meaning to rule.
We have rays, to lift, and rays, meaning beams of light.
We have red, the past tense of read and red the color.
We have right meaning, correct or the opposite of left and right, to put words on paper.
We have ring, meaning a circle, and ring, meaning to twist.
We have road, that's another word for a street, and road, the past tense of ride.
We have roll, a function, and roll, to turn over.
We have sail, which is something you do on a boat, and sail when something is sold, exchanged for money.
We have seen, meaning a place, and seen, the past participle of see.
We have see, meaning the ocean or a body of water, and see, meaning to look.
We have sell, to exchange something for money, and sell, meaning a small room or a unit.
We have sew, meaning to stitch with needle and thread, and sew, meaning therefore.
We have shore, meaning land near water, and shore, meaning certain.
We have sight, the ability to see, and sight, meaning a location.
We have sum, referring to an amount, and sum, meaning a total.
We have sun, meaning a male child, and sun, the star in the sky.
We have soul, meaning the spirit, and soul, meaning the bottom surface of your foot.
We have stare, meaning a step, and stare, to look for a long time.
We have stationary, meaning not moving, and stationary, referring to writing supplies.
We have steal, meaning to take illegally, and steal, meaning a metal.
We have stake, which refers to a cut of meat, and stake meaning a share, interest or pointed object.
We have sweet, which means a set of rooms, and sweet, tasting sugary.
We have tail, part of an animal, and tail, meaning a story.
We have tears, drops of water when you cry, and tears which are levels.
We have through, the past tense of throw, and through, from one side to another.
We have toe, part of your foot, and toe meaning to pull.
We have vein, meaning proud of one's appearance, and vein meaning a blood vessel.
We have waste, meaning to use carelessly, and waste, the middle part of your body.
We have way, meaning a path, and way, meaning to measure weight, how heavy something is.
We have week, the opposite of strong, and a week, meaning seven days.
We have where, to be dressed with some clothes, and where, asking about location.
We have weather, referring to the climate conditions, and weather, introducing a choice.
We have which, again, asking for choice, and which, meaning a magical woman.
We have whose, showing possession, and whose, short for who is.
We have would, the material you get from trees, and would, which is a modal verb.
We have yolk, which is a connector, and yolk, meaning the yellow part of an egg.
We have you, the subject pronoun for the other person, and you, meaning a female sheep.
Finally, we have your, showing possession, and your, which is short for you are.
Like I said, we went through those really fast, so you've got to download the lesson PDF and review all of these homophones calmly anytime.
And if you want detailed explanations plus lots of example sentences, I recommend getting my book 600 Plus Confusing English Words Explained so that these confusing words will become clear to you.
The link is in the video description.
Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next lesson.
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Keep practicing your English, and I hope you have a wonderful day!