Homophones are curious business. Word lovers find them fascinating, but others, not so much. How can two words that sound the same be spelled completely different, have dissimilar meanings, and yet both be a valid part of a language? That question is for another day, but if homophones confuse you this quiz could be a worthwhile experience (or perhaps only confuse you more).
Have fun and when your head stops spinning let us know in the comments below whether (not weather) you learned anything.
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Question of
Do all homophones sound alike?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Why are guest and guessed considered homophones?
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They begin with the same letters.
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They are pronounced the same.
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Question of
Are air and heir homophones?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Which of the following words are homophones?
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Ladder and Latter
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Higher and Hire
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Jars and Gars
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Question of
Can words with a possessive apostrophe be homophones?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Which of the following are homophones?
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Links and Lynx’s
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Doughs and Dozes
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Who’s and Whose
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Question of
Which sentence correctly uses homophones?
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He, to, herd the heard running so he decided two divide it in too.
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I looked into the eye of the needle but my thread wholly missed the hole.
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We were aloud to bid the old principle goodbye on principal but not to say it allowed.
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Question of
Are advice and advise homophones?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Are three words that sound similar but have different meanings be homophones?
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Yes
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No
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Question of
Which of the following are not homophones?
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Weather, Whether, Wether
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Predominates, Predominant, Predominance
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Palette, Pallet, Palate
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Question of
Which of the following sentences is correct?
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All things considered, the parody was parity.
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The illusive hummingbird seemed elusive.
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Question of
Which of these sentences is incorrect?
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Before he ate the cache at eight his auntie upped the ante with cash.
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Her eminent arrival threatened to undermine the imminent designer’s show.
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Question of
Which of these sentences uses homophones correctly?
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The cook pares the pairs of pears in the spare bowl with care.
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She should ware it wear ever she would where the fur coat.
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They would not insure coverage, nor would they ensure it.
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Question of
Which kind of doctor would you rather have…
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One who loses his patience?
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One who loses his patients?
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One who loses neither?
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Sorry for the duplicate. I thought I was just answering Ellie and then the page flipped back and the comment was here, too. I am a native speaker and former English teacher. I missed a couple of these because they were tricky. I missed another because I didn’t read the question carefully and that tricked me. I thought I was supposed to pick the right answer, not the wrong one. But I disagree with you on two answers and still think I’m right — even after consulting references.
If you are thinking of #8, and got it wrong, you may be pronouncing the words correctly.
10/14 Fun quiz, maybe I should work on my pronunciation a little bit more!
Glad to know you enjoyed it!
If you are thinking of #8, and got it wrong, you may be pronouncing the words correctly.
Pronunciation has always been very difficult for me. Maybe it depends on the area too, I am often surprised how different some words sound in British English, American English, Canadian English, Australian English, and even different parts of each country.
That’s quite true. But some people simply pronounce words in a non-standard way. That’s what’s wrong with this question. The “c” and the “s” in these words are pronounced differently from each other in standard English. So the words don’t actually sound alike when properly pronounced.
Most of the time, they are confusing unless they are used in a sentence.
Got 11 here out of 14. Hmmm..still a good score for a non-native speaker of English like me.
It’s a good score for even native English speakers because homophones can be very confusing…good job!
amazing awesome nice post
12 out of 14 i got many
Really good job–thanks for joining in!
Not good score, but made it.
Good for you, though, for tackling the quiz!
A really hard quiz – I have 8/14
Homophones can confuse us quickly–glad you braved the quiz out!
I got 11/14…very tricky questions 🙂 Good thing u came up for this quiz..Good job 🙂
Thanks–good job on a confusing topic.
You got 7 out of 14 right!
Not so bad
Thanks for taking this quiz. Any time I study homophones I learn something new.
12 out of 14. I was losing my head over these homophones! LMBO!
i missed 2, although they were all easy. i just messed up.
It’s a topic that easily confuses! Thanks for stopping in.
Good one, got 10 correct!
You did well–it’s a confusing topic!
enjoying quiz though ,don’t know much things,but its interesting.thanks
Thanks for stopping in to check out this topic!
A very interesting quiz even I got only 10, but it is fun!
Glad you enjoyed the learning experience!
Of course, my friend! Like I said, it is fun…
You got 11 out of 14 right!
Great.
Enjoyed the quiz though i should have scored better.
Thanks for letting us know you had fun. It’s a learning experience every time I review homophones.
11/14 that was really Nice Quiz for me.
Glad you enjoyed it!
11/14 that was really a cute quiz! I enjoyed it, the last one was funny.
Thanks much for letting us know you enjoyed it. 11/14 is a good score for a confusing bunch of words!
ND: So glad you enjoyed this quiz! 🙂 Though there is some controversy over advice and advise, most homophone sites claim them as their own. Apparently their pronunciation is close enough to count in the homophone book of mysteries. This pair’s definitions are often confused, helping to make homophones even more mystifying. Add to this various English pronunciations and we can find ourselves easily bewildered. I have to look many of these up over and over to make sure I’m confused…again! 🙂 But it’s fun stuff for word lovers. Thanks for stopping in!
EP: Good job, and thanks for letting us know! 🙂
got 10 out of 14 right!
Haha, Roberta, I especially like the final question!
Allow me point out, though, that (#8) advice and advise are not homophones; the first ends in an S sound, while the second ends in a Z sound.
Re #10, weather and whether are not homophones in all Englishes. My own preserves the distinction. Also in what/watt, when/wen, whine/wine etc.
Anyway, these are small things. Thanks very much for a fun quiz!