Homonyms, Homophones and Horror-nyms

Homonyms are words that share the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings, while homophones are words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of how they are spelled.

These are often misspelled, misused and confused.  I know because I have done it—and I call them all horror-nyms.

Examples of errors, my own and otherwise, will be followed by a list of homophones, with a homonym or two.

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Observed: She was quick as a march (no capitalization) hair.

Observed: The king sat on his thrown.

Committed: I enjoyed the lethargic dancers instead of the liturgical dancers.

Committed: We traveled to the British Aisles.

Committed: I once referenced the cannon of scripture, instead on canon.

Committed: She was messaging my feet, instead of massaging.

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Ad/add
Addition/edition
Affect/effect
Aid/aide
Ail/ale
Aisle/isle
Altar/alter
Antidote/anecdote Arc/ark
Awful/offal
Ball/ball (dance)/bawl
Beet/beat
Bear/bare
Bells/belles
Birth/berth
Blue/blew
Boar/bore
Board/bored
Bolder/boulder
Border as in edge/boarder as in tenant
Bow to bend forward/bow on a ship/bough of a tree/bow [pronounced "bo"] (decorative)
Bow/bough
Break/brake
Breach/breech
Breath/breadth
Cannon/canon
Cant/can't
Capital/capitol (building)
Chaste/chased
Complement/compliment
Cord/chord
Counsel/council
Count (title)/count (verb)
Course/coarse
Cow as in bovine/cow (v.) as to intimidate
Crane (machine)/crane (bird)/crane (verb)
Dairy/diary
Dam/damn
Date as in day/date as in a day out/date as in fruit
Dear/deer
Deign/Dane
Dessert/desert
Die/dye
Do as in a note/dough for bread/doe (deer)
Do/dew/due
Dove (bird)/dove (past tense of dive)
Draw as if in pull/draw as if drawing a picture
Drop (fall)/drop (liquid)
Eight/ate
Fair/fare
Fawn/faun
Feat/feet
Flea/flee
Flower/flour
Fly (like a bird)/fly (insect)
Fore/four
Fowl/foul
Fuse/fuze
Gate/gait
Gene/jeans (pants) Gene/Jean (names)
Genes/jeans/Jean (woman's name)Great/grate
Hail/hale
Hair/hare
Hall/haul
Handy work/handiwork (I saw this written on facebook.)
Hay/hey
Hear/here
Heard/herd
Heart/hart
Hew/Hugh/hue
Holy/wholly
Hole/whole
Horse/hoarse
Hose/hoes
Hour/our
Idle/idol/idyll
Its/it's
Knew/new/gnu
Knight/night
Know/no
Led/lead (past tense)/lead(metal)
Letter (correspondence)/letter (of alphabet)
Liken/lichen
Loose/lose
Lure/lore
Lure (verb)/lure (noun)
Maid/made
Main/mane/Maine (i.e. Spanish Main)
Mail/male
Manner/Manor, as in house
March as in a month/march as in a parade
Meet/meat/mete
Message/massage
Metal/mettle/medal
Mite/might
Mole as in animal/mole as in blemish
Moon/moon (verb)
Morning/mourning
Mould/mold
Nap/nape
Need/knead
Oar/or/o'er
Pair/pear/pare
Pain/pane
Palate/pallet
Pall/Paul
Past/passed
Paws/pause
Peace/piece
Peek/peak/pique
Peer/pier
Picture/pitcher
Pine/pine (verb)
Plain/plane
Please/pleas
Poker/polka
Pole/poll
Pour/pore
Presents/presence
Prey/pray
Principal/principle
Profit/prophet
Prostate/prostrate
Queue/cue
Rap/wrap
Reign/rain
Right/rite
Road/rode
Row/roe
Rye/wry
Scent/sent
See/sea
Seed/cede
Seem/seam
Shoe/shoo
Shutter/shudder
Site/cite/sight
Sew/so/sow (seeds) /sow (female pig)
Shear/sheer
Soul/sole
Stare/stair
Steak/stake
Steal/steel
Stern (strict)/stern on a ship
Style/stile
Sun/son
Some/sum
Tail/tale
Tear (from eye)/ tier
Tear (rip)/tare
Tea/tee
Tenants/tenets
There/their/they’re
Throne/thrown
Toad/towed/toed
Too/two/to
Trip (journey)/trip (stumble)
Vain/vane
Veil/vale
Vile/vial
Vise/vice
Waste/waist
Way/weigh/whey
Week/weak
Wet/whet
Whale/wail
Where/wear/ware
Whether/weather
Whore/hoar
Width/with
Writing/riding
You/ewe
You’re/your/yore