The same pronunciation, different meaning
(Одинаковое произношение, разное значение)
AIR – HEIR (воздух – наследник): fresh air; the heir to the throne;
AISLE – ISLE (проход – остров): an aisle seat; the British Isles;
ALTAR – ALTER (алтарь – изменить): to lead to the altar; to alter course;
BAND – BAND (отряд/группа – тесьма/завязка): a rock band; a rubber band;
BANK – BANK (берег – банк): the bank of the river; the Bank of England; a bank account;
BARE – BEAR – BEAR (голый – нести ношу – медведь): with bare hands; I can't bear it; the polar bear;
BARK – BARK (лай/лаять – кора): the dog barked at me; barking dogs; the bark of a tree;
BAT – BAT (летучая мышь – бита): blind as a bat; a baseball bat;
BE – BEE (быть – пчела): to be or not to be; to be as busy as a bee;
BEAT – BEET (бить – свекла): to beat the drums; beets and carrots;
BOUGH bau – BOW bau – BOW bau (сук/ветка – поклон/наклонить – корма судна): the boughs of a tree; to take a bow; to bow one's head; the ship's bow;
BOW bou – BEAU bou (лук для стрельбы/смычок/галстук-бабочка – кавалер): a bow and arrows; the bow of a violin; a bow tie; he is her new beau;
BRAKE – BREAK (тормоз – перерыв/ломать): car brakes; let's have a break; don't break it;
BUY – BY (покупать – около/у): to buy a car; to walk by the river; to sit by the window;
CACHE – CASH (тайник/запас – наличные деньги): cache memory; pay cash; I have no cash;
CELL – SELL (ячейка – продавать): a prison cell; my cell phone; to sell books;
CENT – SCENT (цент – запах): 100 cents in a dollar; a faint scent of roses;
CEREAL – SERIAL (крупа – серийное издание): to eat breakfast cereal; to watch TV serials;
COARSE – COURSE (грубый – курс): coarse fabric; a course of lectures;
CURRANT – CURRENT (смородина – текущий/течение): red currant; current year; ocean current;
DEAR – DEER (дорогой – олень): Dear Sir; dear friend; a young deer; several deer;
DESERT di'zə:t – DESSERT di'zə:t (покидать – десерт): to desert the village; apple pie for dessert;
DEW – DUE (роса – должный): morning dew; When is the train due?
DIE – DYE (умереть – краситель/окрашивать): He died two years ago. She dyed her hair red.
FAIR – FAIR – FARE (справедливый – ярмарка – плата за проезд): that's fair; book fair; bus fare;
FINE – FINE (прекрасный – штраф): one fine day; fine wine; to pay a fine for speeding;
FIR – FUR (ель – мех): pines and fir trees; a fir cone; a fur coat; natural fur;
FLEA – FLEE (блоха – спасаться бегством): a flea market; to flee the country;
FLOUR – FLOWER (мука – цветок): two cups of flour; a bunch of flowers;
FOREWORD – FORWARD (предисловие – вперед): a foreword in a book; to move forward;
GAIT – GATE (походка – ворота): heavy gait; slow gait; to open the gate;
GRATE – GREAT (скрести/тереть – замечательный): to grate cheese; a great opportunity;
GROUND – GROUND (земля – молотый): to fall to the ground; freshly ground coffee;
HAIR – HARE (волосы – заяц): she has dark hair and green eyes; he ran like a hare;
HALL – HAUL (коридор/зал – тянуть/тащить): down the hall; a concert hall; to haul the boat;
HANGAR – HANGER (ангар – вешалка): a plane hangar; a coat hanger;
HAY – HEY (сено – эй): to make hay; hay fever; Hey!
HEAL – HEEL (излечивать – пятка/каблук): to heal the wounds; high heels;
HEAR – HERE (слышать – здесь): Did you hear what he said? She doesn't live here.
HI – HIGH (привет – высокий): Hi; how are you? high walls; high speed; high temperature;
HOARSE – HORSE (хриплый – лошадь): a hoarse voice; to ride a horse;
HOLE – WHOLE (дыра – целый): a small hole in my sock; as a whole; the whole world;
I – EYE (я – глаз): I can see it clearly. My left eye itches.
KNIGHT – NIGHT (рыцарь – ночь): the Knights of the Round Table; a dark night; days and nights;
KNOW – NO (знать – не/нет): Do you know him? No, I don't. I have no time.
LIE – LIE (ложь/лгать – лежать): to tell a lie; don't lie to me; to lie on the floor;
LIGHT – LIGHT (свет – легкий): bright light; as light as a feather; light rain;
MAIL – MALE (почта/отправить почтой – мужской/мужчина): to send by mail; a male child;
MEAN – MEAN (значить – низкий): What do you mean? It was mean of him to say it.
MEAT – MEET (мясо – встретить): meat and potatoes; to meet a girl; to meet with friends;
NONE – NUN (ни один – монахиня): none of them; she is a nun;
PAIL – PALE (ведро – бледный): a pail of water; his face is pale;
PAIR – PEAR (пара – груша): a pair of gloves; apples and pears;
PEACE – PIECE (мир/покой – кусок): peace and quiet; a piece of bread; a piece of paper;
PEAK – PEEK (пик – заглянуть/взглянуть): a mountain peak; to peek into the hole;
PLAIN – PLANE (ясный/простой – самолет): plain answer; plain food; to go by plane;
POLE – POLE – POLL (столб – полюс – опрос): a telegraph pole; the North Pole; public opinion poll;
POUND – POUND (фунт – колотить): a pound of cheese; to change dollars for pounds; to pound on the door;
PRINCIPAL – PRINCIPLE (главный – принцип): principal cause; a man of principle;
RACE – RACE (раса – скачки/гонка): the human race; horse racing; a race horse; race cars;
READ – REED (читать – тростник): to read a book; reed grows near water;
RIGHT – WRITE (правильный/правый/право – писать): that's right; my right hand; civil rights; to write a letter;
RING – RING (кольцо – звонить): a wedding ring; to ring a bell;
ROLE – ROLL (роль – рулон/катить): to play a role; a roll of toilet paper; the ball rolled away;
ROOT – ROUTE (корень – маршрут): the roots of the tree; Route 10; bus route;
ROW rou – ROW rou (ряд – грести): to sit in the first row; to stand in a row; to row the boat;
SAIL – SALE (парус/плыть – распродажа): to sail on a ship; I bought it on sale;
SEA – SEE (море – видеть): Have you ever seen the sea at sunrise?
SEW sou – SO – SOW sou (шить – так – сеять): to sew a dress; be so kind; to sow the seeds;
SIGHT – SITE (вид/зрение – место): a beautiful sight; to see the sights; good eyesight; construction site; website;
SOLE – SOLE – SOLE – SOUL (единственный – подошва – камбала – душа): sole heir; shoe sole; fillet of sole; body and soul;
SOME – SUM (некоторый – сумма): I need some money; a large sum of money;
SON – SUN (сын – солнце): he is my son; she has three sons; the sun is shining;
STAIR – STARE (ступенька – пристально смотреть): go down the stairs; don't stare at people;
STAKE – STEAK (ставка – бифштекс): the stakes are high; I'd like a steak for dinner;
STEAL – STEEL (красть – сталь): to steal money; stainless steel;
SUITE – SWEET (номер-люкс – сладкий): a hotel suite; this cake is too sweet;
TAIL – TALE (хвост – рассказ): a bird with a long tail; a long and interesting tale;
TIP – TIP (кончик – чаевые): the tip of the tongue; a one-dollar tip; to give a tip;
TOAST – TOAST (тост/гренок – тост за): a piece of toast; I'd like to propose a toast to Alan's health;
TOE – TOW (палец ноги – буксир/буксировать): I stubbed my toe; a tow truck; to tow a car;
TOO – TWO (тоже – два): I like it too. I spent two days at the lake.
TRUNK – TRUNK (туловище/ствол – сундук): the trunk of a tree; an elephant's trunk; a wooden trunk;
VAIN – VEIN (тщетный/тщеславный – вена): in vain; she is vain; veins carry blood to the heart;
WAIST – WASTE (талия – излишняя трата): a slender waist; a waste of time; to waste money;
WAIT – WEIGHT (ждать – вес): to wait for an hour; her weight is 65 kilograms;
WARE – WEAR – WHERE (изделия – носить одежду – где): glassware; men's wear; he is wearing a suit; Where is Mike?
WAY – WEIGH (путь – взвесить): to find a way; the shortest way; she weighs 65 kilograms;
WEAK – WEEK (слабый – неделя): weak eyes; weak tea; next week; for two weeks;
WEATHER – WHETHER (погода – ли): nice weather; ask her whether she wants to go;
WELL – WELL (хорошо – колодец): very well; to feel well; a deep well;
WHICH – WITCH (который – ведьма): which of these; Which bag is yours? She is a real witch.
WHINE – WINE (скулить – вино): my dog often whines; stop whining; red wine; French wines;
The same spelling, different pronunciation, different meaning
(Одинаковое написание, разное произношение, разное значение)
BOW bou – BOW bau – BOW bau (лук для стрельбы/смычок/галстук-бабочка – поклон – корма судна);
DESERT 'dezərt – DESERT di'zərt (пустыня – покидать): the Sahara Desert; he deserted her;
LEAD li:d – LEAD led (вести – свинец): this road leads to the lake; as heavy as lead;
ROW rou – ROW rau (ряд – ссора): Please stand in a row. My neighbors had a row yesterday.
SOW sou – SOW sau (сеять – свинья): to sow the seeds; to raise sows;
TEAR tiər – TEAR teər (слеза – рвать): tears in her eyes; to tear up his letter;
WIND wind – WIND waind (ветер – извиваться/заводить): a cold wind; to wind the clock.