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Tricky 1-Syllable English Word Sets
Some basic English words confuse beginners because of similarities with other words in terms of spelling, pronunciation and meaning.

Tricky 1-Syllable English Word Sets

Many English learners face difficulties with basic English words because many of those words look similar in spelling, sound similar especially when poorly pronounced and sometimes have similar or slightly different pronunciations. In this article we have selected some basic English word sets for the sake of practice.


English words may be spelt the same but have different pronunciations:

Example 1: When I greet my teacher I have to bow. I want to learn how to use a bow and arrow.

In these two sentences, the word 'bow' is spelt the same, pronounced differently and refers to different things.

English words may be spelt differently but pronounced the same.

Example 2: I want to buy a red pen. Yesterday I read a book.

In these two sentences the word 'red' and the word 'read' are pronounced the same although they don't mean the same thing and don't have the same spelling.


Because of the confusing nature of such words, English learners may often find it challenging to use them correctly. The word sets below reflect these challenges. For each word set, try to do the following 6 things:

1. Pronounce the words correctly (Use an electronic dictionary to check pronunciation).

2. Spell the words correctly

3. Know the meaning of each of the words

4. Find what part of speech each word is.

5. Use each of the words given to make a sentence.

6. Find an English teacher to check your sentences. If you don't have an English teacher send your sentences to DNT Academy and one of our teachers will check them for you. You can send your sentences using the Contact Us page or simply use the comments section below.


100+ 1-syllable challenging words

  • Axe, Ask, Ass, As
  • Ain't, Ant, Aunt, Aren't
  • Bear, Bare, Beer, Beard
  • Bread, Bred, Breed
  • Ban, Bun, Band, Bend
  • Card, Cart, Caught, Cot
  • Can, Con, Corn, Cone
  • Dire, Dear, Deer, Dare
  • Ex, Eggs, East
  • Fun, Fund, Fond, Found
  • Fin, Fan, Fine, Find
  • Floor, Flour, Flaw, Flow, Flower
  • Fill, File, Feel, Fail
  • Gun, Gum, Gone
  • Hare, Hair, Hire, Higher, here, hear
  • In, Inn, Ink
  • Jack, Jerk, Jet, Jest
  • Kit, Kid, Kin, King, Keen, Kind
  • Lock, Luck, Luke, Look, Lack, Lake
  • Meat, Meet, Mat, Mate, Met, Made, Maid
  • Non, None, Nun, Known, Noun
  • Nut, Knot, Naught, Note, Net
  • Owe, Own, Oath, Odd
  • Pale, Pail, Peel, Pill
  • Quit, Quite, Quiet, Quilt
  • Ride, Rite, Riot, Right, Write
  • Sit, Seat, Seed, See, Sea
  • Site, Side, Sight, Cite, Sigh
  • Throw, Through, Threw, True
  • Up, App, Op, Oops
  • Vein, Vine, Vain, Vane
  • Waist, Waste, West, Wrist

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