248 English Grammar Demystifi ed
Study the following words a few at a time. They are defi ned for you. Whenever
you are not sure which homophone to use, consult a dictionary.
ad (advertisement), add (combine things)
allowed (permitted), aloud (audibly)
ant (insect), aunt (father or mother’s sister)
ascent (upward movement), assent (agreement)
ate (past tense of eat), eight (8, the number that follows 7)
ball (round thing, sphere), bawl (cry noisily)
band (group, musicians playing together), banned (barred, excluded)
bear (endure; mammal with large stocky body), bare (naked)
be (exist), bee (honey-making insect)
beach (seashore), beech (deciduous tree)
billed (owed), build (construct)
blew (past tense of blow), blue (color; depressed)
board (plank), bored (uninterested)
bolder (more daring), boulder (large rock)
born (brought into life), borne (stand)
boy (young man), buoy (marker; keep afl oat)
brake (a device that stops or slows a machine), break (fracture, shatter)
bread (food made from fl our and water), bred (brought up)
by (a preposition expressing a spatial relationship), bye (good-bye), buy (pay
money for, purchase)
capital (assets; seat of government), capitol (U.S. congress building)
caret (mark to show missing text), carrot (vegetable), carat (weight used for gems),
karat (measure of gold content)
cell (basic unit of living things; range of mobile phone transmitter; a small room),
sell (exchange for money)
cent (common currency subunit), scent (fragrance), sent (past tense of send)
census (poll; survey), senses (physical faculty, intelligence)
cereal (grain; breakfast food), serial (sequential; in series)
chews (grinds up food before swallowing), choose (select)
choral (performed by a choir), coral (hard marine deposit)