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The Flatmates
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Homophones 4

The Flatmates
A homophone is a word which is pronounced the same as another word but spelt differently. For example, right (That's the right answer) and write (Did you write to grandma and thank her for the present she sent you?).

sun and son:

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
They've got two daughters and a son.

hear and here:

Speak up! I can't hear a word you're saying.
Come here. I want to speak to you.

ad and add:

Our marketing campaign will be ads on TV and radio.
To make the cake, first add the eggs to the flour and sugar.

finish and Finnish:

You need to finish this report by 5 o'clock tomorrow.
The Finnish, Norwegian and Dutch finance ministers will be meeting in Helsinki next week.

bear and bare:

In the zoo you can see bears, elephants and tigers.
She was running in the park in her bare feet last summer and she cut her foot on a broken bottle.

find and fined:

I can't find my keys anywhere. Have you seen them?
She was fined for smoking on the train. She didn't realise smoking was banned on public transport.

die and dye:

If you don't water plants, they die.
I've decided to dye this old white T-shirt red. Do you think it'll look good like that?

awful and offal (in American English and in some regional British and Irish accents):

He's awful at maths but he's really good at English and history.
I like steak and chicken but I hate offal. I just don't like the taste of liver, heart or brains.

key and quay:

Here's your room key sir. We hope you have a pleasant stay in our hotel.
The boat will be docked in the quay for the next two weeks.

band and banned:

Julie and her brother play in a band together. She's on guitar and he's on drums.
After she was caught smoking in the library for the third time, she was banned for a month. She hated not being allowed to use the computers there so it taught her a valuable lesson.

aid and aide:

After the earthquake lots of countries sent aid. Some sent food, others sent people to help with the rescue effort.
She worked as an aide in the Prime Minister's office for three years.

Vocabulary:

a racket (informal)
a loud noise that goes on for a long time

you can say that again
I agree with you totally

give me a hand
help me

chores (informal) job or pieces of work which are often boring or unpleasant but which you have to do regularly (for example, washing the dishes or tidying your room)

 
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