knave, nave

Knave or knave means a young man or boy, particularly a naughty or trouble-making young man--
"The knave of hearts, he stole some tarts..."
When she asked the knave if he let the cow into her garden, he ran away without answering.
Knave may also mean the jack in a deck of cards--
A knave is higher than a ten, but lower than a queen.

Nave or nave ( rhymes with knave ) means the central aisle of a church, with the pews on either side--
The nave of the church was decorated with flowers for a wedding.
The congregation didn't even fill the nave of the church.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"The knave let balloons loose in the nave of the church."

Note--"knavery" means  the trouble-making behavior of a knave--
The dean chastised the class for its knavery.
"Knavish" describes trouble -making or foolish behavior, or the person who is making the trouble--
They left  paper streamers in the trees, and committed other knavish acts.
Not to be confused with "navy", the sea-going branch of the armed forces--
He joined the navy to avoid being drafted into the army.

throne, thrown

Throne or throne means the ceremonial chair a king or queen sits on--
The queen sits on the throne when she holds court.
No one may sit on the throne but the king.

Thrown or thrown ( rhymes with throne ) is a participle of "throw", meaning to cast or propel, usually with the hand or arm--
His has thrown the discus farther than anyone else.
The crowd was very quiet while the first ball was thrown..

Now that you know that, you can say--
"The objects thrown by the unruly crowd never got anywhere near the throne."

Note--"thrown out" may mean discarded, as trash--
I hope she hasn't thrown out my notes.
Note # 2--"thrown" or "thrown out" may also mean an injury, usually meaning a person's back--
He can't come to work today because he has thrown out his back.

discuss, discus

Discuss or discuss ( pronounced dis CUSS ) means to talk about a particular subject--
We need to discuss your report card, young man.
It's best not to discuss your personal life at work.

Discus or discus ( pronounced DIS cus ) means the flying saucer or Frisbee-shaped thing they throw in the Olympic Games --
The students practiced throwing the discus yesterday.
A discus looks a bit like a Frisbee, but it is heavy.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"The newscasters should discuss the discus throw, and tell us who won."

cruel, crewel

Cruel or cruel means describes a person who is mean, or who likes to hurt other people--
"Don't be cruel to a heart that's true..."
 He didn't want the children to have a pet because he was afraid they would be cruel to it.

Crewel or crewel ( rhymes with cruel ) is a kind of needlework or embroidery used to make designs and pictures with yarn--
She spent months making a large scene in crewel embroidery.
She wants to go shopping for crewel yarn at the crafts store.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"It would be cruel to spoil grandma's crewel work."

leech, leach

Leech or leech means the creature that looks something like a worm with teeth--
A leech lives in the water, and survives by attaching itself to an animal or person and sucking its blood.
Centuries ago, people believed that a leech could cure disease.

Leach or leach ( rhymes with leech ) means to filter out chemically, or through percolation--
Some substances can be used to leach poison out of human tissues.
If the water rises, it may leach many of the nutrients out of the soil.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"When several medicines failed to leach the poison from his system, the doctor considered applying a leech instead."

proceed, precede

Proceed or proceed means to go on with or to continue--
Sorry to interrupt. Please proceed with what you were doing.
When you  have finished checking your sources, you  may proceed with writing the article.

Precede or precede to go before in time--
A speech by the president will precede the ceremony.
Dizziness and shortness of breath usually precede one of his attacks.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Let's proceed with our discussion of financing before we decide which speaker will precede the main program."

Note--"proceeds" may be the third person singular ( he, she, it ) form of proceed--
He needs to tidy up before he proceeds with the project.
"Proceeds" also means the profits or "take" of a business or financial venture--
The treasurer went straight to the bank with the proceeds of the raffle.
Note # 2--"proceeding" may be the present participle of "proceed"--
They are proceeding with the meeting. We had better get back to the conference room.
Not to be confused with "proceedings", a noun ( thing or idea ), meaning a legal case or a meeting --
The judge warned the spectators not to interrupt the proceedings.

time, thyme

Time or time is what we measure with minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years--
Hurry up! We are wasting time!
Do you know what time it is?

Thyme or thyme ( rhymes with time ) means the culinary herb--
"Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme..."
Add 1/2 of a teaspoon of crushed thyme to the stew.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"I don't have time to go to the store for thyme. You'll have to use something else."

Note--"timeless" describes something that can be appreciated, no matter how many decades or centuries have passed--
Nearly everyone agrees that it is a timeless work of art.
Note #2--"out of time" means we have no more time left--to play a game, or to work on something--
We can't make this recipe because we're out of time.
Not to be confused with "out of thyme", which would mean we don't have any thyme to put in the dish we are cooking--
We can't make this recipe because we're out of thyme.
Note # 3--"time out" is what they do in baseball, or to naughty children--
The game was interrupted for a time out.
If you won't behave we'll have to put you on time out.