advise, advice

Advise or advise ( ad vize ) means to offer counsel, help, or guidance--
He asked the teacher to advise him on college entrance requirements.
The stockbroker offered to advise his client on investments.

Advice or advice ( ad vice )  is the counsel, help or guidance offered--
Unsolicited advice may be unwelcome.
People often offer free advice.
Take my advice--don't do it.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Their grandfather used to advise them not to take advice from strangers."

Note--a person who gives advice is called an adviser or advisor --
Make sure to ask your adviser which courses you should take.
Make sure to ask your advisor which courses you should take.
Even dictionaries do not agree on how advisor or adviser should be spelled. It is best to stick with one or the other, although you may be given a style manual by your college or employer. The style manual should include which spelling to use.

horse, hoarse

Horse or horse means the four-legged animal that cowboys ride--
At the end of the movie, he rode his horse into the sunset.
After cars were invented, some people didn't ride horses anymore.

Hoarse or hoarse ( rhymes with horse ) means having a sore throat that makes one's voice raspy--
The speaker talked so long that he became hoarse.
They were hoarse from cheering at the ball game.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"He yelled 'my kingdom for a horse' so many times that he became hoarse."

Note--"hoar" is a different word, meaning something like frost, that  settles on the ground when it is cold--
The sight of the hoar on the fields made him shiver.
"Hoary" may mean covered with frost, or with gray or white hair--
The old man was hoary with age.

wave, waive, waver, waiver

Wave or wave means to move the hand back and forth or to move something back and forth--
They taught the baby to wave good-bye.
Crowds at stadiums now do the wave.
Wave may also mean the movement of the ocean--
The surfer waited to catch a wave.
The next wave may knock down our sand castle.
Wave may mean something with a ripple in it, like hair--
Grandmother used to go to the beauty parlor for a permanent wave.
There are waves we can't see, like radio waves--
Light is considered to be both a wave and a particle.

Waive or waive ( rhymes with wave ) means to make an exemption  from a rule or requirement--
If you ask, they may waive the entrance fee.
The personnel department may waive the education requirement, and accept experience instead.

Waver or waver means to vacillate, or go back and forth in one's opinions or ideas, to be unable to make up one's mind, or make a decision--
The reporter always noticed a politician who seemed to waver.
If they notice that you waver, they will not believe you.

Waiver or waiver ( rhymes with waver ) means an exemption from the usual rules or procedures--the thing granted in this way, either the piece of paper itself, or the idea--
They granted him a fee waiver.
I hope they accept my request for a waiver.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"The fans asked them to waive the rule against doing the wave."
"The dean seemed to waver when I asked for a waiver."

Note--a "wafer" is a sort of cracker or cookie or a small piece of flat bread--
She was superstitious about choking on a communion wafer.
Note #2--a person waving might be called a "waver"--
A waver fell down at the football game.
Something used to wave hair might also be called a "waver"--
She used the waver to do her hair. It looks nice.
Note # 3--a person wavering might be called a waverer--
He is such a waverer. He can never make up his mind.
Note # 4--not to be confused with "wavier" ( wave ee err ) , meaning more wavy than--
His hair is wavier than hers.
Note # 5--a "wayfarer" ( way fare err ) is someone who is on a journey--
The wayfarer asked if he might sleep in the barn.
Note # 6--a "waif" is a poor or homeless child--
They took the poor little waif home and found her some warm clothing.

pole, poll

Pole or pole means a round post or pillar--like what a traffic signal or sign may be mounted on--or telephone wires may be strung on it--
The car hit the pole and knocked it down.
People staple signs to telephone poles.

Poll or poll ( rhymes with pole ) means to take a survey of people's opinions or ideas. Poll may refer to the survey itself or to the act of taking the poll--
The political party sponsored an opinion poll.
Someone stopped us to ask questions for a poll on the next election.
He intends to poll the voters, to see if they favor the proposed legislation.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"The town set up a poll to ask people their opinions on the new traffic poles."

Note--not to be confused with "Pole", meaning a person from Poland--always capitalized--
He was a Pole, and got homesick for kielbasa and sauerkraut.
Note a "pol" ( rhymes with doll ) is a career politician, usually meaning a local politician--
The old pol hasn't missed an election in more than 50 years.

lead, led, lead

Led or led ( rhymes with head) is the past tense (yesterday, or some time ago) form of "lead" ( rhymes with seed)--meaning to go before, show the way, or take charge--
He led the troops into battle.
The conductor led the orchestra.
Some people are not easily led.

Lead or lead is considered to be two words--
 The first ( rhymes with seed ) means to go before or show the way--
Lead the way!
"...and a little child shall lead them..."
The second ( rhymes with head ) means the metal used as a weight or at one time in pencils or for bullets--
In the western movie, the bad guy threatened to plug the hero full of lead.
People once made their own lead pencils.
Lead may be used to make weights.

Now that you know that you can say--
"The lieutenant led them into a rain of lead bullets."

Note--kryptonite is pretend, lead ( the metal ) is real--
Superman uses lead as a shield to protect him from kryptonite.
The dentists puts a lead apron on patients to protect them from radiation. 

heard, herd

Heard or heard is the past tense (yesterday, or some time ago) form of "hear", meaning what you do with your ears, such as detect or notice sound--
I heard our team won the game.
I would have heard the phone ring if anyone had called.
Have you heard of it?

Herd or herd ( rhymes with heard ) means a group of animals--cows, horses, goats, and some others--
Look, there's a herd of cows over there.
Large groups of people may develop a herd mentality.
Herd may be used as a verb ( action word)  that describes taking care of a herd of animals, as a shepherd or goatherd does, or a swineherd--
When he grows up, he wants to herd cows.

Now that you know that, you can say--
" I'm sure I heard a herd of cows mooing."

persecute, prosecute

Persecute or persecute means to unfairly or illegally hound or haunt someone, to injure, torture, or harass, particularly, but not exclusively, because of religion or belief--
It was a custom of the ancient Romans to persecute Christians by feeding then to the lions.
Many of our news organizations believe it is wrong to persecute people.

Prosecute or prosecute means to bring to trial in a criminal case--
The district attorney decided to prosecute the man for murder.
Only the state may prosecute criminals.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"To prosecute is not necessarily the same as to persecute."

Note--the different forms of these two words follow the same pattern--persecution, prosecution, persecutor, prosecutor, persecuted, prosecuted, persecuting, prosecuting, persecutes, prosecutes...

wait, weight, weighed

Wait or wait means to spend time until an expected event occurs, or the time spent expecting the event--
Wait until Mom gets home.
The kids can't wait until vacation!
Most people  hate to wait in line.
There is always a long wait in that store.

Weight or weight ( rhymes with wait ) is a measure of how heavy something is--
Dieters check their weight often.
The weight of his schoolbag was too much.
The Bureau of Weights and Measures checks that store scales are accurate.
Some athletes work out with weights.

Weighed or weighed is the past tense ( yesterday, or some time ago) form of "weigh"--to check how heavy something is--
The nurse weighed the baby to check on her health.
She weighed a lot more before she went on a diet.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"After dieting for so long, she couldn't wait to be weighed to see if her weight had gone down."

Note--not to be confused with "wade" ( rhymes with weighed ), meaning to walk through or in shallow water--
They like to wade in the creek when the weather is hot.

rise, rice, arise

Rise or rise ( pronounced rize ) means to get up or move up--
We rise at 6 every morning.
If it rains too much, the creek will rise.
If the yeast is old, the bread won't rise.
I don't like to see a rise in the price of groceries.
To get "a rise" out of someone is to make him or her display anger or annoyance--
That comment really got a rise out of him.
You're just trying to get a rise out of me.

Arise is an old-fashioned word for rise--
Arise and follow!
"I say unto thee, arise!"

Rice or rice ( rhymes with nice  ) is a commonly eaten grain--
Rice cakes are popular with dieters.
I like fried rice when we order Chinese food.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"I hope the price of rice doesn't rise."

Note--the past tense ( yesterday, or some time ago ) form of "rise" is "rose"--
He rose at 6 am.
They were up before the sun rose.
 The past tense of "arise" is "arose".
My love arose.
Not to be confused with "rose" the well-known flower.
My love is a rose.
Note #2--the third person singular ( he, she, it ) form of "rose" would be "he rose"--
 At 6 o'clock, he rose.
not to be confused with "heroes", as in sandwiches or doers of mighty deeds--
My heroes have always been cowboys.
Note # 3--"risen" is a past participle of "rose"--always used with a "helper" verb ( action word )--
He is risen.
He has risen.
Note # 4--yet more possible confusion--"rows", as in rows of chairs ( rhymes with "rose" )--
We arranged the chairs in neat rows.

bare, bear

Bare or bare means naked or without covering--
Don't let the children run around in their bare feet.
By November most of the trees are bare.
Men traditionally go to church with bare heads.

Bear or bear ( rhymes with bare ) is considered two words--one means the creature who lives in the woods or the zoo--
Don't feed the bears.
Smoky the Bear says to put out fires.
"I just want to be your teddy bear."
Bear or bear also means to endure something, or to carry as a load, literal or figurative--
They hired someone to bear their goods up the mountain.
Illness can be a heavy load to bear.
Bear it in mind.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Bear in mind that it's easy to see a bear in the forest when the trees are bare."

Note--"barely" ( pronounced bare lee ) means almost not at all, or by only a very slim margin--
They just barely won the game.
She was barely 18 years old.
Not to be confused with barley ( pronounced bar lee ), which is a cereal grain--as in barley soup--
"Oats, peas beans and barley grow..."

tale, tail

Tale or tale means a story--
He liked to read tales of long ago.
"telling tales" may mean telling lies--
Don't tell me any tales!
"carrying tales" is gossiping--
She was always carrying tales to the neighbors.
"tale-bearing" means tattling--
The teacher scolded her for frequent tale-bearing.

Tail or tail ( rhymes with tale ) is what a dog wags--the appendage on the backside of many animals ( cats, horses, cows, and others )--
The dog likes me. He's wagging his tail.
Opossums can hang from a branch using their tails.
The "tail end" of something may be the very last part--
We only saw the tail end of the movie.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"She read a strange tale of a creature that moved with its tail."

Note--a "tall tale" is a great exaggeration--like the tale of Paul Bunyan, the giant, who walked across the Rocky Mountains in a few steps. Everything in a tall tale is usually ridiculously large. These tales were told in Texas and other parts of the West.
Note # 2--"entail"  means to involve as a consequence, or through necessity--
Will this project entail the use of toxic chemicals?

meat, meet, mete

Meat or meat means edible flesh--the beef, chicken, or pork we buy at the grocery store--
When she became a vegetarian, she gave up eating meat.
I went to the store and bought the meat that was on sale.
Put the meat in the refrigerator so it won't spoil.

Meet or meet ( rhymes with meat ) means to encounter or run into a person, or to keep a date with someone--
Let's meet at the movie theater at 7 o'clock.
How did you meet your friend?
Meet me at the eagle.

Mete or mete ( rhymes with meat ) means to allot or ration,or to hand out a measured amount of something--
Many parents believe that you should mete out praise sparingly.
They tried to mete to each person an equal portion.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Let's meet for a dinner of meat and potatoes."
"We can meet at my house, where we will mete out the meat."

Note--the noun ( thing or idea ) form of "meet" is "meeting"--
There's a meeting on Wednesday.
A "meet" is a track meet or a similar sporting event--
Our team won the track meet.
"Meet" is also an old-fashioned term for suitable or proper--
"It is meet and right so to do..."

stationary, stationery

Stationary or stationary means standing still or not moving--
People once thought the Earth was stationary.
Is the object in motion or stationary?

Stationery or stationery means writing paper for writing letters--
They gave her a box of pretty stationery for a going-away present, so she'd remember to write.
The paper-goods store has some nice stationery.
When they got married, they ordered monogrammed stationery.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"There is a large stationary sign outside the stationery store."

Note--a "stationer" sells stationery.
A stationer's is a business that sells stationery.

toe, tow

Toe or toe means one of the digits on your foot--
Ouch! I stubbed my toe.
Toe may mean to step up to a line or mark, also meaning to follow the rules--
To work here you have to toe the line.

Tow or tow ( rhymes with toe ) means to pull something, usually using a vehicle, such as a truck or car--
They had to tow my car away.
We tow our boat to the lake every summer.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"He made a mark in the dirt with his toe to show where the tow truck should stop."

Note--"towed" ( rhymes with toad ) is the past tense ( yesterday, or some time ago ) form of "tow"--
They towed my car away!
"Toed" ( rhymes with toad ) is the past tense of "toe"--
For the rest of the year, he toed the line and got good grades.
Not to be confused with "toad", a small bumpy frog-type creature--
The witch turned the prince into a  toad.
Note #2--a towhead is someone with light blond hair--
All of the children were freckle-faced towheads.
Note #3--someone who tows your car could be called a tower ( rhymes with mower )--
This winch is for the tower.
Not to be confused with a tower ( rhymes with power ) --a tall building or part of a building--
The tower is the highest building in the city.
Note # 4--"toe the line" means to keep your foot on the mark, or to go along with company policy, or to do things the way you are told to--
He may get fired if he refuses to toe the line.
Not to be confused with a towline or tow-line, meaning the rope used to tow or pull something--
If the towline breaks, we'll have to stop.

personal, personnel

Personal or personal ( pronounced PER son ull ) means intimate or closely connected--
They had a close personal relationship for many years.
She didn't like the idea of anyone reading her personal correspondence.
Personal may mean pertaining to one's private life or affairs--
It's rude to make personal remarks about strangers.
There's no need to get personal.
Don't give personal information to strangers.
Personal may simply mean social as opposed to business--
Is this a personal call?
Don't make personal calls on company time.

Personnel or personnel ( pronounced per son ELL ) refers to the business department in charge of employee files and information--
If you need to know about your benefits, call the personnel office.
I got a note from the personnel department about a new insurance plan.
All personnel decisions are made in the main office.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"There may be personal information in the personnel files."

Note--not to be confused with "persona" a Latin word used in English to mean someone's personality and character--particularly as he or she appears to others, or the details of his or her life that are accessible to anyone--as a character in a novel might be--
She wanted to project the persona of a sophisticated  older woman.

hire, higher

Hire or hire means what happens when we give someone a job. We hire someone. When we are given a job, we are hired--
I hope the company hires me.
Find out what the business expects from the people they hire.

Higher or higher ( rhymes with hire ) is the comparative ( more than ) form of "high"--
The kite sailed higher and higher in the sky.
That brand has a higher price.

Now that you know that, you can say--
" I hope they hire me at a higher salary."

Note--"Hire's" is a brand name ( of root beer), hence the capital letter for a proper name--
Did you see the ad for Hire's root beer?
Not to be confused with "hires", the third  person singular ( he, she, it ) form of "hire"--
If he hires me, I will start on Monday.

poor, pour, pore

Poor or poor means having little or no money--
This charity helps the poor.
After he lost his job, he was poor.
Poor may also mean a bad grade, or something lacking or insufficient--
He got a "D" , a poor grade in math class.
That's a poor excuse.

Pour or pour ( rhymes with poor ) means to serve or dispense a liquid--
Pour me a cup of coffee, would you?
She poured the water into the jar.
Pour may also mean raining very heavily--
It never rains but it pours.
It's pouring out; take an umbrella.

Pore or pore ( rhymes with poor ) may refer to the little air holes in your skin--
We sweat out of our pores.
This lotion is supposed to be good for your pores.
Some things may also be said to have pores, or to be porous, such as leaves.
Pore also means to study intently.  Pore is always used with an object, usually in the phrase "pore over"--
He was poring over his school book until midnight.
What makes you want to pore over those dusty old books?

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Pouring  warm water over the skin makes a pore treatment for the poor."
"Pouring warm water over  the skin makes a poor treatment for the pores.", would still make sense, but it would have a different meaning.

Note--not to be confused with "pure" ( pronounced pyoor ) , meaning unadulterated, or unmixed with any other substance or idea--
This is pure nonsense.
It was made of pure silver.

main, mane

Main or main means the chief or most important--
Good credentials are the main thing.
Tonight's boxing match will be the main event.
A water main broke under our street.

Mane or mane ( rhymes with main ) means the ring of hair surrounding a lion's head, or the row of long hair on a horse's neck. It may also be used to describe a person's hair--
Only the male lion has a mane.
She braided her horse's main before the show.
He admired her long mane of red hair.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Keeping the horse's mane neat was the main point of the competition."

Note--"main" is also an old-fashioned term for the ocean or a sea--as in "crossing the watery main".
Note #2--"Maine" is one of our 50 states.
Note #3--a "mania" is an obsession or madness.
A "maniac" has such an obsession.
The "maniac" may be said to be "maniacal".
His or her behavior may be called "manic".

role, roll

Role or role means an actor's part, or the part someone plays in a group or organization--perhaps even a family--
The star part is always the most difficult role.
Grandpa loved to play the role of a curmudgeon.

Roll or roll ( rhymes with role ) means to turn over--
Stop, drop and roll in case of fire.
Roll over, Fido.
Roll or roll is also a small round loaf of bread--
I would like my sandwich on a roll.
Don't forget the dinner rolls when you go to the store.
Roll or roll also means a list of the names of the members of a group, such as a school class or military unit--
Make sure you're there in time for roll call.
The teacher always carried her roll book with her.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"The stunt man's role required him to roll down a hill."

Note-- "rollover" ( one word ) is a financial term for reinvesting interest on one's account--
He allowed the interest to rollover until he had a large sum of money.
"Roll over" ( two words ) means to roll over onto the other side--
The dog will do a trick if you tell him to roll over.
"Roll over" may also mean to roll the wheels of a vehicle over something or someone--
Don't roll over the flowers with your bike.

see, sea, C

See or see means to take in view or understand--what you do with your eyes or mind--
Can you see our house from here?
Do you see what I mean?

Sea or sea ( rhymes with see ) means the ocean--
Many different creatures live in the sea.
He liked to look at the sea.

C or c ( rhymes with see ) is the third letter of the alphabet, used in school as a grade of "average" or "acceptable"--
You have to get at least a "C" in this class.
The children are learning their ABC's.
C is also the name of one of the musical notes.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"I see you got a "C" on your report on the sea."

Note--the plural ( more than one ) of "sea" is "seas". ( pronounced seeze ) --
He left to sail the seven seas.
The third person singular ( he, she it ) form of "see" is "sees" ( pronounced seeze )--
The dog is wagging his tail because he sees us.
Not to be confused with "seize" ( also pronounced seeze ), which means to grab hold of or confiscate--
She tried to seize him by the collar, but he ran away.

road, rode, rowed

Road or road means a street or highway of some kind--
There is a detour on this road.
Take the first road on your right.
Take me home, country roads..

Rode or rode ( rhymes with road ) is the past tense (yesterday, or some time ago) form of "ride"--
He rode his motorcycle all the way to town.
Cowboys rode horses in the old west.

Rowed or rowed ( rhymes with road ) is the past tense of row--as in to row a boat--
He rowed the boat across the lake.
They each rowed the boat.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"He rowed across the stream, then rode a horse down the road."

Note--"Rhodes" is a place--hence the capital letter for a proper name--
The colossus of Rhodes was one of the wonders of the ancient world.
"Roads" means more than one road--
"Take me home, country roads..."

Note #2-- a rodeo is an athletic competition of a kind, featuring horseback riding and steer roping--
He won a prize at the rodeo, for riding the bull.

Note #3-- a "row " ( rhymes with no ) means a line or file--
Set the chairs in a row. 
A "row" ( rhymes with "now" ) is an argument or fight--
They were having a row when the police knocked on the door.

Note #4--"roe" ( rhymes with "no") are fish eggs--as in caviar--
They like to eat shad roe. 

capitol, capital

Capital or capital means main or most important, as in the capital city of a country or a capital letter--
The capital of the United States is Washington, D.C.
Always begin a sentence with a capital letter.

Capital punishment is the punishment for a capital, or most serious, crime--
The jury is being selected for a capital case.
Capital punishment means execution.

Capital also means a sum of money, particularly the money invested in a profit-making businesses--
He wanted to start a new business, but didn't have the capital.
Capitalism means using money to make money.

Capitol or capitol refers only to the building which is used as the seat of government--
The capitol is a tourist attraction.
The capitol took years to build.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"The capitol is in the capital."

Note--"Capital!" as an expression is old-fashioned British slang for "great!".
Note #2--Capitol Hill is where the U.S. Capitol stands. Washingtonians sometimes simply call it "the Hill".
Not to be confused with the Capitoline Hill, which is a particular place in Rome, on which its capitol once stood.