7 ms·

that's small time. even identically spelled words are pronounced differently, see polish (shoe polish) / Polish (nationality)

• StavrosK 7y ago
  Even worse are bow, row, lead, etc. English is crazy.
  • dfawcus 7y ago
    If you're going to mention 'bow' one should also remember 'bough' for additional fun.
    • StavrosK 7y ago
      That's a homophone, not a homograph :/
    • dfawcus 7y ago
      When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. When the bow breaks, the army will fall. When the bow breaks, the actor will fall.
• ColinWright 7y ago
  Or entrance versus entrance, alternate versus alternate, refuse versus refuse, and more. Edit: Sorry, I should perhaps not leave that hanging. These depend on your emphasis. More specifically: * en-TRANCE (hypnotise) versus EN-trance (doorway); * AL-ternate (switch between) versus al-TER-nate (the other thing); * re-FUSE (to decline) versus RE-fuse (rubbish). Not to mention the multiple meanings of "lead", "set", "row", "bow", and more.