During my years of editing, I have found homonyms (words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings) to be problematic for many writers. It’s not always that the writer doesn’t know the right word, but rather that—in the heat of getting the story down before something crucial is forgotten or the roll falls victim to daily distractions—we type the first spelling that comes to mind . . . or that flows automatically off the tips of our fingers without conscious thought. These little errors are big red flags to our readers, so we need to do a thorough self-edit of our manuscripts and then use readers and a competent editor to watch our literary backsides.
Below is a list of frequently misused words that often show up in manuscripts, but it is by no means complete.
• Carat (weight), Caret (punctuation mark), Carrot (vegetable)
• Cent (money), Sent (caused to go), Scent (odor)
• Cite (to summon, to quote, to refer to), Site (place, situation), Sight (view)
• Council (administrative or advisory group), Counsel (to advise, advice)
• Depravation (corruption), Deprivation (loss)
• Descent (downward flow or fall), Dissent (disagreement, to disagree)
• Desert (waterless region, to abandon), Dessert (last course of a meal)
• Dew (moisture), Do (perform), Due (owed)
• Dual (two), Duel (combat)
• Flew (past tense of fly), Flue (chimney), Flu (influenza)
• Gait (manner of walking), Gate (door)
• Grate (iron frame), Great (large, magnificent)
• Grisly (frightful), Grizzly (bear)
• Haul (pull, carry, transport), Hall (passageway, large room)
• Heal (cure), Heel (scoundrel, part of foot or shoe, end of bread loaf)
• Herd (a drove), Heard (did hear)
• Here (in this place), Hear (to perceive sound, to sit in judgment)
• Idol (image, object of adoration), Idle (not busy), Idyl (poem)
• Leak (hole, to drain out of), Leek (vegetable)
• Lesson (learning task), Lessen (to diminish)
• Lie (falsehood), Lye (caustic substance)
• Made (created), Maid (domestic servant, unmarried woman)
• Meat (animal flesh food), Meet (a gathering, to encounter, to convene)
• Miner (mine worker), Minor (underage person, of lesser importance)
• Morning (before noon), Mourning (grieving, to grieve)
• Naval (nautical), Navel (center, where umbilical cord attached)
• Oar (rowing blade), O’er (over), Or (conjunction), Ore (mineral)
• Pair (a couple), Pare (to peel), Pear (fruit)
• Palate (roof of mouth), Pallet (storage platform, bed), Palette (art tool)
• Paws (animal feet), Pause (hesitation)
• Peace (quiet, not war), Piece (a part)
• Principal (chief, amount of debt minus interest), Principle (fundamental truth, rule of conduct
• Profit (gain, to benefit from), Prophet (foreteller)
• Rain (water falling from clouds), Reign (rule), Rein (bridle)
• Raise (to lift), Rays (tiny amounts, beams of light), Raze (to demolish)
• Rap (strike, chant words to song), Wrap (enfold, conceal)
• Reek (to emit a smell—often foul), Wreak (to inflict)
• Retch (to vomit), Wretch (miserable person)
• Road (street, way), Rode (did ride), Rowed (did row)
• Scene (a view, story element), Seen (looked at, viewed)
• Sealing (fastening), Ceiling (top of room)
• Sew (to stitch), So (in this manner), Sow (to scatter seed)
• Shoot (to discharge gun or arrow), Chute (inclined trough or tunnel; parachute)
• Soar (to rise high), Sore (painful)
• Some (a part), Sum (total)
• Stair (steps), Stare (to gaze intently)
• Stationary (motionless; in one place), Stationery (writing paper)
• Succor (aid), Sucker (candy, fish, fool)
• Tale (story), Tail (flexible appendage, rear section of airplane)
• Taught (instructed), Taut (tight)
• Their (possessive pronoun), There (in that place), They’re (they are)
• Threw (did throw), Through (from end to end, by way of)
• Too (excess, also), To (preposition, toward), Two (couple)
• Vice (sin), Vise (a press)
• Waist (part of body), Waste (trash, to destroy)
• Weather (climatic conditions), Whether (if it be the case)
• Wood (substance of trees), Would (was willing)
• Yolk (yellow part of egg), Yoke (collar)
What homonyms have you found to be a problem?
Retired editor Linda Lane heads a mentoring team that trains authors to writer better and more effectively. Visit her at www.denvereditor.com