English Heteronyms: Different words that look the same!

Heteronyms are words that are spelled the same way but have different pronunciations and meanings. Since they look the same, it is particularly tricky to know how to pronounce them because you need to be aware of their context. For example, the heteronym “close” has two different meanings and pronunciations in the following sentences: “We live close” and “Close the door.” In this English lesson, I will teach you many other heteronyms you need to know, like “bass”, “present”, “refuse”, “wind”, “bow”, and more. There are no particular rules to determine their pronunciation, and they vary in function, some being verbs, nouns, and adjectives. So watch this lesson to learn some useful English heteronyms, and do the quiz at to test your memory.

TRANSCRIPT

Heteronyms, heteronyms, heteronyms. Heteronyms; this is a word, and it has a meaning. Heteronyms. It's spelt strangely on the board; that's the correct spelling, but the word is "heteronyms". What the hell are heteronyms? Good question; I'm glad you asked. They are very confusing words, and I don't like them, but I'm doing this to help you because heteronyms are words that are spelled the same-dunh-dunh-dunh-but have completely different pronunciation and meaning. So, when you look at the word, your brain goes: "Oh my god. Do I say it this way or this way? Why are there two different words... One word with two different meanings?" These are called heteronyms. Welcome to the wonderful word of heteronyms.

The first heteronym you might know if you play an instrument or if you are a singer, is this word; but if you like to eat fish, you know it as this word. So, this word: "bass" - a kind of fish we call a bass. But if you play an instrument or you sing, it's called a bass. So, "bass" is a kind of instrument; it's a bass guitar or a stand-up bass. Bom-bom-bom. Any stand-up bass players out there or regular bass guitar players? Hey, there. You can play the bass, but you can eat a bass fish. Exact same spelling; both nouns, but the pronunciation and the meaning is completely different. Stay with me on this one. It's going to get more difficult; don't worry.

The next one we have is this word; this is an adjective. As an adjective, we say: "close". It's a long "s" sound. "Close" means the same as near. So, you can say: "The elephant is close to me" or "The elephant is near me." The next one we have with this word is "close". We have to really be able to pronounce the "s" and the "z", here. So, this word is "close". "Close" means to shut something. So, this is a verb. For example: "Close the door"; and this is an adjective: "close". The door needs to... We need to close the door because the elephant is close. Or you can say: "Shut the door; the elephant is near." And then you don't have to worry about these crazy things.

The next one. I think you guys know this one already; it's very common. We have a noun and a verb. The noun is a land full of sand. Oh, that rhymes; I'm a poet. So, a land of sand is called a "desert". The pron-... The accent is on the first part of the word and it's two syllables, so this word is desert. There's the Sahara Desert, and there's many other deserts, but I don't know the names of them. Then we have the verb: If you abandon someone or you leave them and you don't tell them you're going, this is called "desert". So, you will hear people say: "He deserted me." And then you think: "Is that a food?" No. A food has two Ss. "Oh, are you in the Sahara?" And you go: "No, no, no. I was just abandoned." The... The words with two syllables are a little bit easier, but not that much. The ones that have crazy sounds like this, they're more difficult, so you're going to have to practice; you've got homework.

The next one is one of these birds that everyone loves, and it's called a "dove". The spelling is like this, but the pronunciation is like: "dove". A dove is a kind of bird; it's white; it looks like a pigeon. Apparently it's not a pigeon, but I think it's a pi-... It's not a pigeon; it looks like a pigeon. It's not a pigeon. It's a kind of soap brand as well. And then we have the past tense of "dive", which is "dove". So, we have: "dove", the bird of peace-aw-and then we have "dove". So, I can say: The dove dove into the building. Oh my god. Now it's dead.

If you're sad about this, maybe you're going to cry and you're going to produce a droplet of water; your eyes are leaking, and this is called a "tear". The pronunciation is like with two e's, so we say: "tear". Then the same word as a verb is if you rip something. If you rip something, you tear it. You might hear someone say: "Tear it up!" That means, like: "Do your best! Yeah! Go, go, go!" So... Or: "Rip it up". "Tear" is like a teardrop when you're crying; and "tear" is you rip. But look at the spelling. Oh my god. It looks like... It looks like "tear", which is actually this one. […]

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