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Homophones #3

Each of these words has two homophones. Guess what they are.
A homophone is a word that sounds the same but is spelled differently
For this quiz, spelling must be exact
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: March 17, 2018
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First submittedFebruary 18, 2013
Times taken55,819
Average score65.6%
Rating4.00
5:00
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Word
Homophones
Vain
Vane
Vein
Prays
Praise
Preys
By
Buy
Bye
Sent
Cent
Scent
You
Ewe
Yew
For
Fore
Four
Poor
Pore
Pour
Errs
Airs
Heirs
Word
Homophones
Idle
Idol
Idyll
Meat
Meet
Mete
Pair
Pare
Pear
Peak
Peek
Pique
Raise
Rays
Raze
Road
Rode
Rowed
Rain
Reign
Rein
Freeze
Frees
Frieze
+4
Level 44
Jun 30, 2013
There are also different pronunciations for "poor". Some say "pore" to rhyme with "ore"; others say "poor" emphasizing the double "o" sound, like poooooor.
+2
Level 31
Oct 2, 2013
My maths teacher says it like poo-er, dead quick like. I think that's kind of what you were saying?
+4
Level 61
Jul 1, 2013
Good quiz. Accents really do change things, I agree that Errs is pronounced differently than heirs and airs. Also I've always pronounced Idle with the I sounding like eye whereas idyll I've always started like Id (as in Ego, Id etc). Maybe I've been saying it wrong all these years.

Missed a few easy ones though as once I got one spelling in my head it was surprisingly difficult to think of a different one!

+3
Level 57
Mar 14, 2014
I disagree with the Errs-Heirs-Airs (not just you but everyone). Err is a derivation of Error. Err is the verb whereas Error is a noun. An Error is a mistake, to Err is to make a mistake. Even with accents I find it hard to believe that anyone pronounces it "ur-ur". Error is pronounced "Air-or", or "Air-er", as Err is a direct derivation of that, it should thus be pronounced "Air". Meaning Errs would be pronounced as "Airs".
+2
Level 75
Jan 22, 2016
I agree with you that err is pronounced the same as the beginning of error but your analogy is flawed. There are plenty of words which are derived from other words but change the way they are pronounced. If only I could think of an example right now...
+3
Level 75
Aug 26, 2018
I can: error and err.
+2
Level 56
Jul 1, 2013
Why is "race" not accepted?
+1
Level 75
Dec 31, 2020
It has an 's' sound not a 'z' sound.
+1
Level 59
Feb 11, 2024
Because quizzes like this don't translate well across accents. In my accent, the S in raise is voiced making it sound like a Z but in yours it's likely unvoiced which makes it a homophone with race. Neither pronunciation is right or wrong, it's just a limitation inherent to this type of quiz
+1
Level 68
Jul 1, 2013
This is a good quiz--tougher than you would think.
+2
Level 35
Jul 2, 2013
To us Californians, the word pairs in this quiz were certainly all homophones.
+1
Level 77
Sep 11, 2013
Same for Illinoisians
+1
Level 24
Jul 4, 2013
Why is "frizz" not accepted?
+3
Level 54
Sep 7, 2013
Because it's not a homophone of any of the words in the quiz.
+6
Level 54
Sep 7, 2013
Idyll and idol are not homophones. O_o
+1
Level 70
Nov 18, 2016
Completely agree.
+4
Level ∞
Mar 17, 2018
They are perfect homophones in the standard American accent. Go to Google translate, type "Idol idyll", and hit play. There is no difference.
+2
Level 69
Jun 23, 2020
Well that must be a mistake online or a mistaken pronunciation in American English. There are obviously variations in the way we say certain words, but idyll and idol are not among them. Id-ill and Eye-dol/dul.
+6
Level 34
May 9, 2014
Words which are different in my accent:

Poor vs Pore/Pour

Err vs Air/Heir

Idyll vs Idol/Idle

+1
Level 75
Jun 30, 2014
Enjoyed this one. Tougher than I thought it would be. Missed yew, heirs, idyll, and pique.
+4
Level 75
Aug 1, 2014
Paw is a homophone (maybe this is to do with British/Canadian/Australian/NZ accents, where it is a more obvious homophone)
+7
Level 71
May 19, 2015
I've always pronounced "idyll" as "id-ill", not "eye-dul" :\
+1
Level 71
Oct 4, 2015
So have I, unfortunately accents make Homophones quite difficult to please everybody. As an English born man, having lived and worked in 8 different English speaking (mostly) countries I often mix up my accents and pronunciation and change my accent depending who I'm speaking to.
+2
Level 84
Oct 28, 2015
Errs is not pronounced like airs and heirs. And in what part of the world do people pronounce poor the same as pore and pour?
+1
Level 75
Nov 8, 2015
In the mid-south of the US for one.
+1
Level 44
Aug 30, 2018
New Zealand, Australia
+1
Level 65
Dec 17, 2018
how else could you pronounce it?
+2
Level 74
Nov 27, 2021
Several regional accents in the UK pronounce it "poo-er". I know in my more standard accent, they're pronounced the same, but then it wouldn't be valid because "paw" is also a homophone.
+1
Level 76
Nov 27, 2021
Definitely all pronounced the same in the northeastern/mid-Atlantic US, where I grew up and live.
+1
Level 68
Nov 9, 2015
Fun quiz - pretty much gives you the answers but still hard. (I should have done better!)
+1
Level 74
Nov 9, 2015
If you're from New York, errs doesn't sound like airs. It must be a Midwest thing. When I moved to the Midwest from New Jersey, I realized that people couldn't distinguish between the names Aaron and Erin, which are completely, utterly different pronunciations to me.
+1
Level 69
Oct 18, 2016
I think both examples you just cited, dasubergeek, are true not just in the Phila/NJ/NY Northeast, but also all the way down the Middle Atlantic to DC as well as up and throughout New England. (But if we had to tackle "draw"/"drawer" in Rhode Island/Mass. or "water"/"wooder" in Philly, things would get REALLY convoluted!)
+6
Level 57
Nov 10, 2015
What about "paw" as a homphone of pour, pore and poor?
+1
Level 84
Aug 26, 2018
Only if you're British. Pronouncing "aw" as "or" instead of "ah" creates the amusing situation that you pronounce "flaw" like "floor". I heard a song on the radio where the guy kept singing "All of my floors and all of your floors", and had no idea what he was talking about it. It got really weird when he said "you have always worn your floors upon your sleeve".
+2
Level 82
Nov 27, 2021
You've got it the wrong way round. No-one pronounces "aw" as "or" in words like flaw, it's that we Brits pronounce the "or" in words like floor the same as the "aw" in flaw - i.e., non-rhotically.

And I've never heard anyone, of any nationality, pronounce "aw" like "ah".

+3
Level 74
Nov 10, 2015
I have never ever hear "errs" pronounced close to that way - to ryhme with airs? Naaah.

I have lived in Australia and the UK and been to the US a number of times. Simply can't believe it's true.

Also, paw for poor - totally yes.

And idyll? I was dubious, but I looked that up and now I learnt something.

+1
Level 84
Aug 26, 2018
Paw for poor: not in the North American pronounciation.
+3
Level 83
Nov 12, 2015
Those people who are complaining - just pronounce the whole quiz in an American accent. I've got used to that now.
+1
Level 84
Aug 26, 2018
Yes. Except for "poor" being a homophone for "pore" and "pour". Apparently that's a southern US thing. In the north, it's pronounced with a long U, like "room". Poo-er.
+2
Level 68
Nov 27, 2021
Midwest here - it's a homophone
+2
Level 76
Nov 27, 2021
I grew up in New Jersey and now live in Maryland, and I've always pronounced them all the same way.
+2
Level 62
Sep 10, 2016
Hue for "you" ??...
+2
Level 69
Oct 18, 2016
"Hue" definitely has an aspirated "h" at the beginning.
+1
Level 45
Nov 18, 2016
ROAD AND RHODE
+2
Level 84
Aug 26, 2018
Except that "rhode" isn't a word by itself. It's a proper noun when followed by "Island". Pluralize it and it becomes another proper noun -- the island of Rhodes -- or the first half of "Rhodes Scholar".
+1
Level 56
Nov 30, 2017
This is probably my favorite category :-)
+2
Level 70
May 11, 2018
I appreciate that accents vary, but, as someone from the South of England, "Errs" is not a homophone of "Airs" and "Heirs" (it rhymes with "Hers") and "Idyll" is not a homophone of "Idle" and "Idol" - the initial "I" being pronounced as it "it".
+1
Level 92
Jan 30, 2019
and the yll being like a short il not ol (although I can see how some accents may vary that)
+1
Level 67
Jun 28, 2018
Errs should be removed given other countries such as Australia don't pronounce it "airs".
+1
Level 69
Aug 7, 2018
Nice one. Tough, but got 100% on the first try. Frieze was the hardest. Definitely do not understand the Paw comments or that errs is not pronounced like airs/heirs. How do you say it? Urs?

(I live in Oklahoma)

+1
Level 74
Nov 27, 2021
Yup, that is indeed the correct way to say it.
+2
Level 76
Nov 27, 2021
There's no such thing as a "correct" dialect. Just accept that different accents pronounce certain words differently, and that none is really more "correct" than another.
+2
Level 70
Aug 26, 2018
There's a great study on American dialects that offers some cool maps on not only pronunciation but also regional vocabulary. You can participate or just check out their results: http://www.tekstlab.uio.no/cambridge_survey/. And for you non-Americans, now you can sate your curiosity as to what locale in 'Mericuh your particular dialect most closely matches (if you get Boston then chances are you have a severe speech impediment and should seek specialist therapy).
+2
Level 74
Dec 26, 2018
'Ey, bustah, that's really wicked roode of ya tah mock mah Bahston accent! I oughta clobbah ya one!
+2
Level 74
Aug 26, 2018
Maybe do one for American English and one for... you know, English.
+1
Level 68
Aug 26, 2018
Got all easy. Except for errs. Man I was stumped! Nothing rhymes with errs!! I was so surprised to see the answer! Kiwi accent for you.
+1
Level 67
Aug 26, 2018
Errs is pronounced as spelled in Australia. Not fair. Otherwise, I scored 100%. >:-(
+1
Level 46
Aug 26, 2018
You shouldn't use words that don't sound alike in different accents. Its not difficult to find other homophones that aren't complete red herrings to people who don't pronounce words exactly the same way you do.
+1
Level 61
Aug 27, 2018
gee. or perhaps you could go and make those quizzes and allow the quizmaster to make his quizzes as he likes.
+2
Level 24
Aug 27, 2018
If you can't think of how other people might pronounce a word, that's your lack of understanding of English, and you don't deserve to get that one right.
+1
Level 46
Aug 29, 2018
I think a quiz 'master' has a responsibility to avoid words in a homophone quiz that aren't homophones to most people. Especially when alternatives are easy to find.
+3
Level 76
Nov 27, 2021
IS there any such thing as a homophone that is pronounced exactly the same in ALL dialects of English?
+1
Level 74
Aug 27, 2018
Just look the word up. Errs is a soft e whereas to make errs rhyme with airs it would have to be a hard e. Thus airs is not a homophone of errs.
+3
Level 76
Nov 27, 2021
I just looked it up in Merriam-Webster, and the first pronunciation given for both "err" and "air" is ˈer.
+1
Level 59
Aug 27, 2018
Raise=Race
+2
Level 82
Aug 27, 2018
There is a difference between voiced and unvoiced consonants
+3
Level 56
Aug 29, 2018
I wish I had some popcorn for all the debates in this thread. Are people just now learning that there are different pronunciations for different areas? I figured, with TV and all...
+1
Level 65
Aug 29, 2018
What about Ears?
+3
Level 44
Aug 30, 2018
You need to specify the accent you're using, so many things don't belong or are missing based on various accents.
+1
Level 55
Sep 1, 2018
idyll is not pronounced the same as idol!
+1
Level 65
Dec 17, 2018
I got frieze and pique and only missed six, got neither of the errs, not sure how to pronounce it ( not from an english speaking country, so pretty proud :) cause this is quite tough)

Shouldnt "hue" be an acceptable answer for a homopone for "you" (did try jew not yew :/ but it is more pronounced djew anyway I thought, so hue would be a better fit)

+1
Level 75
Dec 27, 2018
The H in hue is pronounced - it is a homophone of Hugh and they both sound like 'HYOO'

You and yew are both pronounced as 'YOO'

+1
Level 56
Jun 19, 2019
'errs' is not a homophone for 'airs'. they are not pronounced the same
+1
Level 79
Jun 19, 2019
I pronounce 'idyll' as /ɪdɪl/, not /ʌɪd(ə)l/.
+1
Level 89
Jul 7, 2019
Jerry from NZ (above) said:

In New Zealand, heirs and airs are honomyms, but are pronounced differently from errs, which is pronounced more like "urze". And we pronounce idle with a long "i" ("eye-dull"), but idyll with a short "i", rhyming with "riddle".

I'm from the UK and agree totally in all respects. Re 'errs' I'm from the Midlands, lived in the south west and south east and now in the north and have never heard errs pronounced in any way than urze. (Mind you, I haven't lived in Yorkshire :-) .)

+1
Level 78
Jul 13, 2020
Totally agree with this, erm, Ears? Did I pronounce that correctly? I rhymed it with errs.
+1
Level 50
Nov 11, 2020
"Errs"/"Airs" and "Idle"/"Idyll" only work in an American accent.
+1
Level 74
Nov 13, 2020
Mane and Main sound awfully lot like Vain.
+1
Level 54
Aug 1, 2021
That would be a rhyme,
+3
Level 69
May 10, 2021
Where's 'Paw'?
+2
Level 64
Jun 12, 2021
I can't type phonetic chars on my phone, but idyll is a short I, idol is a dipthong. Errs does not rhyme with airs in any accent I've ever heard & I've lived in lots of places.

There is a further homophone for by: bi is now a fully accepted term for a person who is bisexual

+2
Level 54
Aug 1, 2021
As far as your Errs and airs concern, try English.

"Bi" alone is not a word, it is a part of many different words.

I don't accept it, therefore it is not "fully accepted".

+1
Level 87
Aug 14, 2021
While airs and heirs are homophones, neither is a homophone of errs. End of story.

The emphasis in the word idyll is on the second syllable, meaning it is not a homophone of idle or idol (which are homophones). Clear?

Love these qizzes

+1
Level 67
Nov 22, 2021
Don't know how I came up with Frieze but ok
+1
Level 67
Nov 22, 2021
Maybe cuz of Frieza from DBZ even though I've barely watched it
+1
Level 67
Nov 22, 2021
Missed idyll, pique, and rowed, the bottom 3
+1
Level 60
Nov 27, 2021
Fun quiz thanks and I do realise that we're all supposed to speak with American accents, however couldn't quizzes just avoid words that really don't work in other parts of the world. Idles is not a homophone of idylls (id-ills) in Britain. And how about rase?
+2
Level 73
Nov 27, 2021
Paw for poor as well
+2
Level 67
Nov 27, 2021
I am not a native English speaker and I just realised that all this time I have been pronouncing many of these words incorrectly.
+4
Level 76
Nov 27, 2021
I will never get over how so many people here insist that their particular dialect of English is the One and Only Correct Pronunciation and that all other dialects are apparently horrible abominations.
+1
Level 58
Nov 27, 2021
The non-homophones for me (from Ireland) are:

- poor (not a homophone with pore or pour). In my accent "poor" has the vowel of "good" while "pore" has the vowel of "broad".

- idyll (pronounced completely differently to idol/idle - this is not an accent issue)

- errs (not a homophone with airs/heirs)

+1
Level 65
Nov 29, 2021
Rhode is also a homophone for road, rowed and rode
+1
Level 85
Jan 26, 2022
Even as an American, Err doesn't sound the same as air, it has the same sound as the 'ur' in urn.
+2
Level ∞
Jan 26, 2022
To err is human. To forgive divine.
+1
Level 65
Mar 3, 2022
to err is human to really foul things up takes a computer
+2
Level 69
Jun 9, 2022
Not to this American. It's a big country.
+1
Level 57
Jul 5, 2022
Errs is pronounced neither the same as airs or heirs. And idyll is not pronounced like idle or idol.
+1
Level 57
Oct 15, 2023
road, rode and rowed? maybe this is specific to me but the latter would have a well emphasised 'w', so the pronunciation really wouldn't be the same. I can admit that its probably close enough that it works in some accents though.
+1
Level 59
Feb 6, 2024
Whoever uploaded this does not know how to pronounce "errs"
+1
Level 49
Feb 10, 2024
Can you declare a source for the pronunciations? For a lot of mother tongue English speakers some these are nowhere near homophones. If we know the dialect or preferably the dictionary used we might have a chance.
+1
Level 22
Feb 26, 2024
A highly controversial topic, raising issues on the correct pronunciation (if there is even such a thing) of some selective homophones, depending not only on nationhood but also its states/provinces/counties therein. I loved it! PS: for the record: missed out on six!