homophone

Word that sounds the same as another but has a different spelling and meaning. Examples are air and heir, right and write, and son and sun.

Homophones are a source of spelling errors. The student needs to distinguish particularly between there, their, and they're: ‘They're over there with their friends’; its and it's: ‘It's a pity its stem is damaged’; your and you're: ‘You're next to your father’; whose and who's: ‘Who's the man whose watch was stolen?’; hear and here: ‘I hear your mother was here yesterday.’