wine, whine

Wine or wine means an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grapes, or from other fruits--
They ordered a glass of wine with dinner.
He stopped at the liquor store for a bottle of wine.

Whine or whine ( rhymes with wine ) means to complain in a pathetic and annoying way--
When the children whine, their mother refuses to give them what they whine for.
Did you hear the dog whine? We forgot to feed him.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Do you think the waiter will bring me another glass of wine if I whine loud enough?"

Note--"wined" means tried to ply with liquor or attention--
He always wined and dined potential clients. It was good for business.
"Whined" is the past tense ( yesterday, or some time ago ) of "whine"--
The children whined, but she wouldn't give in. She didn't want to encourage whining.
Not to be confused with "wind" ( rhymes with wined ), meaning to turn a knob or key to set a mechanical device in motion--
When I was a young woman, I had to remember to wind my alarm clock and wristwatch each day.
Not to be confused with "wind", ( rhymes with sinned ), meaning the movement of the air, or a breeze--
There is not enough wind to fly our kite.

bail, bale

Bail or bail means the sum of money left as surety for appearance in court--
The judge set bail at $50,000.
His parents offered the money to pay his bail.

Bail also means to remove water from a boat or ship--
Everyone get a bucket and help bail out the boat, or we'll sink!
Figuratively, to bail someone out means to get someone out of trouble-
I had a lot of trouble with the report, but a coworker bailed me out.
Don't count on us to bail you out if you get into trouble.

Bale or bale ( rhymes with bail ) means to compress into a bundle--
Get moving--we have to bale all of that hay.
They used a machine to bale the hay.
Bale may refer to the bundle--
They sat the scarecrow on a bale of hay.
The bale of newspapers was too heavy to lift.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"They tried to bail out the boat by using a bale of cotton to soak up the water. Then they threw the bale overboard."

Note--"bail" also means the metal or wire handle of a bucket or container--
She carried the bucket by the bail, and swung it back and forth.
Note # 2--"bale" also means sorrow or woe--
He heard a baleful cry
Note # 3--a "bailiff" is an officer of a law court--
The bailiff instructed everyone to rise.
Not to be confused with "bail if" ( two words ), meaning the sum of money deposited with a court, conditionally ( if ) --
We can post bail if our parents will help us. 

done, dun

Done or done is the past participle of "do", meaning to perform or execute--I do, I did, I have done--
Have you done your homework?
We have done this before.
Done or done may mean finished or over--
That was a lot of homework. Are you done?
The washing is done.
Done may mean ready--
Are the steaks done? Did you check them?

Dun or dun ( rhymes with done ) means to press for payment of a bill or debt--
He has to dun people by phone for his new job.
No creditor may dun you by calling late at night, or by calling too often.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Before he was done with the call, he promised not to dun them again."

Note--"dun" also means a grayish-brown color, said particularly of a horse or a cow--
The old dun cow hasn't come home yet. I hope she isn't lost.

course, coarse

Course or course means a path or way--
The obstacle course was a part of their military training.
The ship went off its course and they didn't know where they were.
They decided on a new course of action.
"The course of true love never did run smooth."
Course may mean the movement along a path or way, literally or figuratively--
The heart causes the blood to course through our veins.
The landslide forced the river to course through a narrow channel.

Course may mean a series or progression--
He is taking a course in physics.
The doctor prescribed a course of antibiotics.

Coarse or coarse ( rhymes with course ) means crude, rough,  or unrefined--
The cookbook says to use coarse meal to keep it from sticking.
This linen is of a very coarse weave.
His manners were coarse; he was not used to society.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"His father hoped that a course in public speaking would help to refine his coarse speech."

Note--"coarser" means more coarse--
This fabric is coarse, but the other is coarser.
"Courser" means a steed or mount--
"Away to the housetops his coursers they flew..."
Not to be confused with "corsair", a kind of ship--
She could see the sails of a corsair on the horizon.

dinner, diner

Dinner or dinner ( rhymes with winner ) means the evening meal--
What are we having for dinner?
I think I'll make meatloaf for dinner.
In an old-fashioned book, dinner may mean the noon meal--
They have dinner at noon and supper at six.

Diner or diner ( rhymes with minor )--means a small casual restaurant--
They like to go to the diner for breakfast on Saturday mornings.
The diner is open all night.
Diner may also mean someone who is eating dinner, particularly in a restaurant--
The diner jumped when he heard the crash.
Each diner in that restaurant gets a free slice of cake.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Let's go to the diner for dinner."

Note--"dine" means to eat dinner--
We dine at 8.
They like to dine on pheasant and caviar.
Not to be confused with "din", which means an awful noise--
Quiet down! I can't hear the phone over the din!
The din was so awful they needed ear plugs.

weather, whether

Weather or weather means what's going on outside--wind, rain, snow, hot, cold, etc.--
She watched the weather report every night so that she would know how to dress the next day.
How's the weather? It's raining.

Whether or whether ( rhymes with weather ) means in case of one alternative or the other--
Do your homework whether you want to or not.
He wants to know whether we're going or not.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"We are going to the beach tomorrow, whether the weather is good or not."

Note--a "wether" ( rhymes with weather ) is a male sheep that has been neutered--
Is he a ram or a wether?

or, oar, ore

Or or or means having a choice between one option and another, but not both--
Do you want pizza or burgers?
Do you want to go, or not?

Oar or oar ( rhymes with or ) means the thing used to row a boat or paddle a canoe--
Oh no! I dropped the oar. We'll have to try to get it out of the water, or we'll have trouble getting back.
I'm tired of rowing. You take the oar.

Ore or ore ( rhymes with or ) means a rock or deposit containing metal or minerals--
Iron ore is used to make steel.
The ore is smelted in a furnace to retrieve the metal.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"This ore contains silicon, which can be used to make an oar or a boat."

Note--"or", in heraldry, means gold--
The family crest was a lion on a field of  or.