Commonly Misused Words

Pilinut Press, Inc.™

Enjoyable reading on demand

Most Commonly Misused Words

The following list of misused words was compiled by selecting words which appear most frequently on other lists of commonly misused words. Most misused words are words that sound alike but are spelled differently (called homophones—from Greek; homo meaning same; phone meaning sound).

< Return to Reference Desk

accept/except—accept means to take or receive with approval, to understand; except means to leave out, to exclude.

already/all ready— already means by this time (We had already finished the story.); all ready means all are ready (We are all ready to go now.).

capital/capitol — capital means the major city of a state or nation, also wealth; capitol is a building.

complement/compliment — complement means something that completes another; compliment means something said in praise.

desert/dessert — desert means to leave behind; dessert is the sweet served at the end of a meal.

its/it’s—its is the possessive form of it meaning something belongs to it; it’s is the contraction of it is.

lead/led—lead means a metal; led is the past tense of the word lead meaning to command or provide direction.

plain/plane—plain means simple or unadorned; plane means an airplane, a tool, or a flat surface.

principal/principle—principal means the main or important; principle means a statement of a rule of conduct or in science or mathematics.

shear/sheer—shear means to cut or clip; sheer means straight up and down without a break.

sight/site—sight means something that is seen; site means a location of a planned structure.

stationary/stationery—stationary means to be fixed in one place; stationery is paper used in correspondence.

tail/tale—tail means the end of the body of an animal; tale means a story.

team/teem — team means a group on one side; teem means to become filled to overflowing.

there/their/they’re—there means a location away from you; their means belonging to them; they’re is the contraction of they are.

to/too/two—to is a preposition and can be used with a verb (to make a cake) or a noun or pronoun (The dog came to him when he called it.); too means more than enough (I ate too much ice cream.); two is the number 2.

vain/vane/vein — vain means conceited; vane means a weathervane or weathercock which indicates the direction of the wind; vein means a blood vessel.

vial/vile —vial means a small vessel for liquids; vile means morally despicable.

wait/weight — wait means a period of waiting; weight means the amount that an object registers on a scale.

waist/waste — waist means the middle section of a body; waste means to squander material or the leftover portion of a material used.

weak/week—weak means lacking strength; week means a period of seven days.

who’s/whose— who’s is a contraction of who is; whose is the possessive of who.

your/you’re—your means belonging to you; you’re is the contraction of you are.