Homophones — words that sound the same but mean different things — are the sneakiest spelling mistake in a kid's writing, because spellcheck doesn't catch them. Here's a starter list, grouped by roughly when kids meet each pair. Print it, stick it on the fridge, or work through one pair a week.
Before the list, one live example of why homophones matter — this is a sentence a real Year 3 wrote in an English book:
My mum said we could go their there if the weather is nice, but know no one is allowed to bare bear the noise if it rains.
Three homophone slips in one sentence — and every single one passes a spellchecker. That's why the list below matters.
Year 1–2 (ages 5–7)
- to / too / two — I went to the shop. It was too hot. I bought two apples.
- there / their / they're — There is a cat. It is their cat. They're feeding it.
- here / hear — Come here so you can hear the music.
- see / sea — I can see the sea from here.
- for / four — I saved this seat for you, and three more for four friends.
- no / know — No, I don't know the answer.
- one / won — I won one race today.
- blue / blew — The wind blew the blue balloon away.
- sun / son — The sun was setting when her son came home.
- flower / flour — I need flour for the cake and a flower for the top.
Year 3–4 (ages 7–9)
- your / you're — You're going to love your new bike.
- its / it's — It's the dog's turn — look at its tail wag.
- hear / here — Did you hear that noise coming from here?
- which / witch — Which witch cast the spell?
- weather / whether — I don't know whether the weather will hold.
- peace / piece — I'd like a piece of cake and some peace and quiet.
- meet / meat — Let's meet at the shop that sells meat.
- bare / bear — The bear had bare feet in the snow.
- hair / hare — The hare had grey hair on its ears.
- pair / pear — I ate a pear and bought a new pair of shoes.
The bare in the woods eats bear hands full of berries.
The bear in the woods eats bare hands full of berries.
Swap-and-read: does the sentence still make sense with the other word? If yes, you probably picked the wrong one.
Year 5–6 (ages 9–11)
- affect / effect — The rain will affect our plans and have a big effect on the picnic.
- accept / except — Everyone accepted the rule except Sam.
- principal / principle — The principal has strong principles.
- stationary / stationery — The stationery van was stationary at the lights.
- compliment / complement — Her scarf complements her coat — what a nice compliment!
- aloud / allowed — He read aloud, which wasn't allowed in the library.
- board / bored — The bored student stared at the board.
- brake / break — Pump the brake or you'll break the bike.
- flour / floor — She dropped the flour on the floor.
- grate / great — It's a great cheese to grate on pasta.
Memory tricks that actually stick
- there / their / they're — 'there' is a place (contains 'here'); 'their' owns something (contains 'heir'); 'they're' is short for 'they are'.
- its / it's — 'it's' with an apostrophe always means 'it is' or 'it has'. If you can't swap in 'it is', use 'its'.
- stationary / stationery — Stationery contains an 'e' for 'envelope'. Stationary contains an 'a' for 'at rest'.
- principal / principle — The principal is your 'pal'. A principle is a rule.
- affect / effect — Affect is usually an Action (verb). Effect is usually an End result (noun).
How to use this list
Don't teach all 40 at once. Pick a pair a week, put both in the same sentence, and revisit them a month later. For extra practice, try Verbao Cubs' Error Hunt — many rounds are built around homophones and the game shows the fix inline the moment your child taps the wrong word.
The goal isn't to memorise a chart — it's for your child to hesitate for half a second before writing 'their' and check which one they mean. That pause is the whole win.