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CHAPTER 1

AN A TO Z OF HOMOPHONES

A

a/A/eh

a: The first letter of the English alphabet (a, b, c..); also used before nouns as emphasis (this is a beautiful beach; he is a prince among people)

A: The first in any series (A, B, C, D); a grading mechanism (John received an "A" for mathematics); in music, a note and a corresponding scale (one of my favorite pieces of music is Edvard Grieg's "Piano Concerto in A Minor")

eh: An expression used to indicate not hearing correctly what was said (eh, what did you say?)

A/a/eh (see a/A/eh)

acts/axe

Acts: To indicate performances or actions (his many acts of bravery were recognized by a grateful public; she acts as a substitute when the star is ill; she acts her age) or artistically (there were three acts in the play); to describe government rulings (acts of Congress)

axe: An implement used to cut wood (he used an axe to cut down the tree); to eliminate (they decided to axe the television program when the ratings fell)

ad/add

ad: A shortened form of "advertisement" (did you put an ad in the newspaper to sell your car?)

add: To increase number, volume, size, or importance (I usually add more water to this recipe; I add emphasis to this word to increase its effect); or to find the sum of (add up both columns of numbers)

add/ad (see ad/add)

adds/ads/adze

adds: Third person singular of "add" (previous entry) (he adds up the petty cash every evening)

ads: Plural form of "ad" (previous entry) (several ads were placed in the newspaper last Saturday)

adze: A heavy steel tool with a wooden handle used to shape wood

ads/adds/adze (see adds/ads/adze)

adze/ads/adds (see adds/ads/adze)

aerie/airy

aerie: The lofty nest of large birds, such as eagles or hawks

airy: Breezy (it is very airy with all the windows open); used also to denote a lightness in appearance or manner, or a flippancy (she has a very airy manner)

aid/aide

aid: To help or assist (he came to her aid when she fell down; nations give financial aid to overcome poverty in Third World countries); to assist with hearing (do you need to wear a hearing aid all the time or only through the day?)

aide: An assistant (he was appointed an aide to the governor)

aide/aid (see aid/aide)

ail/ale

ail: To feel pain, or be ill or unwell

ale: An alcoholic or soft drink (he drank so much ale that he was incapable of driving home; ginger ale is a favorite among children)

air/ere/heir

air: What we breathe; the composition of the atmosphere (the world is aiming for clean air); used also to indicate appearance (she has a special air about her); to overcome tension (to clear the air); a melody or tune (Bach composed "Air on the G String")

ere: Poetic term meaning "before" (ere we meet)

heir: One who inherits (Prince Charles is the heir to the British throne)

airy/aerie (see aerie/airy)

aisle/I'll/isle

aisle: A passageway between seats in theaters, churches, aircraft, etc. (the bride walked slowly down the aisle of the church on the arm of her father)

I'll: Shortened form of "I will" (I'll take you to the circus next Saturday)

isle: A small island (the Isle of Pines in the Pacific Ocean is included in the itinerary of many cruises)

ale/ail (see ail/ale)

all/awl

all: Inclusive term meaning everyone or everything (I have packed all the clothes I need for the holiday; all our favorite programs are shown at night)

awl: A pointed instrument used to pierce holes in leather, wood, etc.; a type of butterfly

allowed/aloud

allowed: Given permission (John was allowed to play the piano); to admit or concede (he allowed that he had made a mistake in the calculations; in the expenses I have allowed for the depreciation on the car)

aloud: To talk loudly (it is irritating when patrons talk aloud in movie theaters)

aloud/allowed (see allowed/aloud)

altar/alter

altar: A communion table at the front of a Christian church (churchgoers take communion at the altar)

alter: To modify or change (it is common practice to alter a digital photographic image)

alter/altar (see altar/alter)

analyst/annalist

analyst: A person who analyzes [e.g., a chemical analyst, a political analyst, a psycho analyst,

annalist: A writer of historical annals or periodical journals of learned institutions annalist/analyst (see analyst/annalist) ante/anti

ante: A poker stake (before the deal, the players agree on the initial stake in the pot and put their money on the table, this is known as the ante); colloquial: upped/ upping the anteis used to indicate an increased offer or extra effort (he upped the ante to $10 million to buy the football club; he made a successful takeover bid by upping the antexs)

anti: against or opposed to (many people were anti the war in Iraq)

anti/ante (see ante/anti)

arc/ark

arc: A part of the circumference of a circle; bow-shaped; a luminous bridge between two separate carbon poles (the rainbow formed a perfect arc)

ark: The vessel built by Noah during the Great Flood (in the biblical story, Noah took animals two by two onto the ark); the ark of the covenant, a wooden chest containing tables of Jewish law (the holy ark is the most sacred object of Jerusalem)

ark/arc (see arc/ark)

ascent/assent

ascent: To rise; to advance (it takes great courage, skill, and determination to tackle the ascent to the top of Mount Everest)

assent: To agree with something (you have my assent)

assent/ascent (see ascent/assent)

assistance/assistants

assistance: To give aid (volunteers gave valuable assistance during the floods)

assistants: Helpers (many assistants were required to help clean up)

assistants/assistance (see assistance/assistants)

ate/eight

ate: Consumed (I ate so much cake, I will probably be sick)

eight: A cardinal number as the symbol 8; depicts this number of items or persons (eight people jumped into the surf to save two children caught in the rip)

attendance/attendants

attendance: The people who attend a meeting, function, or event, etc. (no one called in sick, so there was full attendance at the office today)

attendants: People who occupy a specific position at an official event [e.g., bridesmaids] (there were many attendants at the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton)

attendants/attendance (see attendance/attendants)

auger/augur

auger: A spiral tool used for boring holes in wood or an instrument for boring into soil

augur: To foretell, predict; a sign boding either ill or well (all the signs augur well for the coming festival)

augur/auger (see auger/augur)

aural/oral

aural: Relating to the ear, or sense of hearing (the doctor ordered an aural test to check the patient's range of hearing)

oral: Spoken, verbal (the student gave an oral presentation to the class); relating to the mouth (the doctor prescribed an oral dose of medicine twice daily)

auricle/oracle

auricle: The outer part of the ear in humans and animals

oracle: A saying, prophecy, or proclamation; a person offering wise counsel or divine prophesies (in Sophocles's play, Oedipus consulted the oracle who told him he would kill his father and marry his mother)

away/aweigh

away: Absent (I was away from work today); distance (the fire was far away); colloquial: meaning not listening or incapable of understanding (away with the fairies); sporting events not played on the home field, court, etc. (the team has an away game on Saturday)

aweigh: A nautical term (anchors aweigh)

aweigh/away (see away/aweigh)

awl/all (see all/awl)

axe/acts (see acts/axe)

axel/axle

axel: An ice-skating term referring to a jump with one-and-a-half turns (or more) in the air from one skate to the other (the spectators clapped when the ice skater performed a triple axel during her performance)

axle: The shaft, pin, bar, or similar that is used to rotate a wheel or pair of wheels (farmer Jones was annoyed when the axle broke on his cart and the wheel fell off)

axes/axis

axes: The plural of "yes" (the men used their axes with great dexterity in the wood-chopping event at the agricultural show)

axis: A real or imaginary line about which a body, such as the earth, rotates; an alliance or agreement of two or more powers to coordinate their foreign and military policies (during World War II, Germany, Italy, and Japan were referred to as the Axis powers)

axis/axes (see axes/axis)

axle/axel (see axel/axle)

aye/eye/I

aye: Used as an alternative to "yes" (the ayes have the majority); a nautical expression (aye, aye, Captain)

eye: The organ of sight (some people have one blue and one green eye); to observe, glance, or watch (the warden kept an eye on the prisoner); to be fond of someone (she was the apple of my eye); to ignore (the pedestrian turned a blind eye to the car accident); to be discerning or a good judge of something (he has a good eye for interior design); used also in conjunction with superstition (she has the evil eye) or desire (she has her eye on that dress)

I: Personal pronoun (I wish I could win the lottery)

B

B/be/bee

B: The second letter in the English alphabet; the second in any series (A, B, C, D); a grade (Jo received a "B" in English); in music, a major or minor chord (Franz Liszt composed the "Piano Sonata in B Minor" in 1854)

be: Part of the auxiliary verb "to be" (I want to be a great writer; how can you be so calm?; from Shakespeare's Hamlet, "To be, or not to be, that is the question")

bee: A hive insect that makes a buzzing sound and produces wax and honey (the most important bee in the hive is the female queen bee); colloquial: someone who is admired (she is the bee's knees); also used to indicate a busy group of people (a working bee); a contest (a spelling bee); to indicate an obsession (she has a bee in her bonnet)

baa/bah

baa: The bleating sound made by a sheep (Baa BaaBlack Sheep is a well-known nursery rhyme) bah: An exclamation of contempt or disgust (bah, you don't know what you are talking about!)

bade/bayed

bade: Past tense of "to bid," meaning to order or request (I bade her not to make those rude noises)

bayed: A bark made by large dogs, particularly hounds (the dog bayed at the moon)

bah/baa (see baa/bah)

bail/bale

bail: The security given to release a prisoner into custody of another person (his bail was set at the maximum amount; bail was denied, as the prisoner was considered a risk to the community); to help or assist, particularly financially (his father was able to secure the finance to bail out his son from his gambling debts); the action of scooping water (his job was to bail out the water if the boat started to leak)

bale: A large bundle usually for storage or transportation (a bale of hay)

baited/bated

baited: Using poisoned food to kill animals (Kim cried for days when her dog ate the baited food and died); to place food on a hook to catch fish (Ron baited his hooks with worms to catch flathead); to use inflammatory or insulting words to anger (the drunken louts baited people walking past with rude gestures and swear words)

bated: To restrain (he waited with bated breath to hear the results); to moderate (he experienced many setbacks that bated his hopes of advancement in the company)

bald/balled/bawled

bald: Hairless (he wore a wig to conceal he was bald); having little or no tread (he was pulled over by the police for having bald tires)

balled: Squeezed or molded into a rounded shape (he balled up his dirty clothes); also appears in the expression blackballed, meaning a negative vote that excludes membership (his reputation had preceded him and when he applied for membership of the club he was blackballed)

bawled: Past tense of "to bawl," meaning to cry loudly (she bawled when she fell down the stairs)

bale/bail (see bail/bale)

ball/bawl

ball: A round or spherical body such as a sphere or a globe (a ball can take many shapes [e.g., footballs and tennis balls]); a formal dance (the mayoral ball was an important event)

bawl: To cry loudly (I shudder whenever I hear my baby bawl, fearing he might be hurt)

balled/bawled/bald (see bald/balled/bawled)

band/banned

band: A group of persons with a common purpose (they band together to raise money for cancer research; a musical band); radio frequencies (a band is defined between two distinct frequency limits)

banned: Prohibited or limited by law (underage teenagers are banned from attending this event; alcohol is banned in this area)

banned/band (see band/banned)

bard/barred

bard: A Celtic minstrel or poet (Shakespeare is the best-known bard)

barred: Forbidden or excluded (he was barred from attending the celebrations)

bare/bear

bare: Unclothed, naked (his chest was bare and completely hairless); unadorned, plain (her neck was bare without any jewelry; the bare facts were given in evidence)

bear: An animal (a grizzly bear is known to be very dangerous); to carry or support (he had to bear the weight of the load on his shoulders); to suffer (she will bear the pain of the loss all her life); to produce (many trees bear fruit)

baron/barren

baron: A peerage, a title (barons in England are lower in status than princes, dukes, and lords); a very powerful or rich man, a magnate (American "robber barons" were regarded as unscrupulous)

barren: Not capable of reproducing (because she was barren, she was unable to have children; the land was barren)

barred/bard (see bard/barred)

barren/baron (see baron/barren)

base/bass

base: The bottom (the base of the vase was cracked); low, cowardly (it was a base action to steal from the old woman)

bass: A deep sound, particularly referring to music (he was a bass singer in the church choir)

based/baste

based: To be located at a particular place (Josh is based at the army camp at Holsworthy, New South Wales)

baste: To sew or tack with large temporary stitches in the first stages of making a garment (Beryl's practice was to baste the sides and shoulders of a jacket to have a fitting before completing the garment); to moisten meat with liquid during cooking (when baking a leg of lamb, the cook would baste the leg several times during the cooking time)

bask/Basque

bask: To lie in the sun or warmth (to bask in the sunshine; to bask in the attention given)

Basque: An autonomous region in northern Spain (the Basque refers to people of this region and also many who live in France and the Pyrenees)

Basque/bask (see bask/Basque)

bass/base (see base/bass)

baste/based (see based/baste)

bat/batt

bat: A nocturnal animal with webbed wings that eats mainly fruit or insects; colloquial: to have poor vision (she is as blind as a bat); an implement used in sport to strike a ball [e.g., baseball bat]

batt: Material used to insulate buildings; cottonwool filling in quilts

bated/baited (see baited/bated)

batt/bat (see bat/batt)

bawl/ball (see ball/bawl)

bawled/bald/balled (see bald/balled/bawled)

bayed/bade (see bade/bayed)

bazaar/bizarre

bazaar: A marketplace where goods are sold often in stalls, particularly in Egypt, Turkey, and Asia (tourists particularly like visiting bazaars to buy souvenirs); the sale of assorted items to raise funds [e.g., church bazaar]

bizarre: Odd, eccentric, unusual (the clothes she wears are quite bizarre)

be/bee/B (see B/be/bee)

beach/beech

beach: Sand and/or sea pebbles between the sea and the shoreline (our greatest pleasure was building sandcastles on the beach); to run a boat onto the shore (it was necessary to beach our boat)

beech: A tree grown in temperate regions that has smooth, gray bark

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Excerpted from "The Right Word"
by .
Copyright © 2014 Elizabeth Morrison.
Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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