Words that sound alike but have different spellings (homophones)

Some sets of words that sound alike or nearly alike are so commonly confused that a good writer will double-check their every use.

accept, except

advice, advise

affect, effect

allusion, illusion

capital, capitol

censor, censure

cite, site

coarse, course

complement, compliment

conscience, conscious

council, counsel

elicit, illicit

emigrate, immigrate

eminent, imminent

its, it’s

lead, led

loose, lose

passed, past

precede, proceed

principal, principle

than, then

their, they’re, there

to, too, two

weather, whether

who’s, whose

your, you’re

Related topic:

Commonly confused words