# Single-syllable words with the most spellings. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 15, 2019, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774 "2019-10-15T04:12:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/1 "2019-10-15T04:12:58Z")
One I was thinking about today is oar (boat acessory) ore (raw material) or (conjunction) and Orr (surname.) Are there single-syllable sounds with 5 or 6 or more real-world spellings? (Probably better stick to alphabetish writing systems, as ideogram based ones are probably pretty full of them.) ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/2 "2019-10-15T04:22:35Z")
I knew a fellow named Orr who told me about getting into a dispute with a store manager. The regional manager instructed the local guy to write an apology, which dutifully arrived addressed to Mr. Whore. How close does the pronunciation have to be? Bean, been, and bin - the announcers in New Zealand call Ben Smith “Been Smeth”. Vowel shifts and all that. Aye, I, eye ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/3 "2019-10-15T04:42:14Z")
“Heterograph” is the term for words that are pronounced the same but spelt differently. I can think of another four-way heterograph - right, rite, wright, write… My best offer is a five-way: Air Heir Are [the unit of measurement for an area] E’er [abbreviation of “ever”] Ere The OED tells me that the same pronunciation is acceptable in US English for “err”. I wouldn’t pronounce it that way but, if you would, that giveS you a six-way. Expect plenty of arguments over this, since whether words are heterographs or not is to a significant extent dialect-, variant- and accent dependent. For example, “why” and “wye” are heterographs in some variants of English, but not in others. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/4 "2019-10-15T08:12:38Z")
Jim Gym Gem Jem(?) ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/5 "2019-10-15T09:58:38Z")
Are foreign languages eligible? เขา เข่า เข้า เฃ้า เค่า เค้า เข๋า ขาว ข้าว ข่าว ฃ่าว เก่า เกา เก้า ก้าว กาว I’ve padded the list with some archaic spellings, but I’ve probably missed some homonyms (or near-homonyms) altogether. The first eleven words above all have _khao_ as the official transcription; the final five have _kao_. (The Paiboon transliterations are kǎo kào kâo kâo kâo káo kâao kǎao kâao kàao kàao gào gao gâao gâao gaao, or such. Some of the words in the list above have same-spelled homonyms, BTW. เขา can mean hill, antler, pigeon, vine, 3rd-person pronoun, or a childish 1st-person pronoun.) > [@UDS](#): > > … The OED tells me that the same pronunciation is acceptable in US English for “err”. I wouldn’t pronounce it that way but, if you would, that giveS you a six-way. Every Sunday in an Episcopalian church we agreed that “We have ‘aired’, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep.” ---
**Author:** ![Calavera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calavera/32/70_2.png) [@Calavera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calavera)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/6 "2019-10-15T10:10:58Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > One I was thinking about today is oar (boat acessory) ore (raw material) or (conjunction) and Orr (surname.) Are there single-syllable sounds with 5 or 6 or more real-world spellings? (Probably better stick to alphabetish writing systems, as ideogram based ones are probably pretty full of them.) You missed awe and aw. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/7 "2019-10-15T10:31:31Z")
> [@Calavera](#): > > You missed awe and aw. There is a dialect where those are pronounced the same way as oar/ore/or/Orr? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/8 "2019-10-15T10:48:25Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Jim > Gym > Gem > Jem(?) Map of the “pen-pin merger” — the southern US: > **[Phonological history of English close front vowels](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_close_front_vowels#/media/File%3APin-pen.svg)** > > The close and mid-height front vowels of English (vowels of i and e type) have undergone a variety of changes over time and often vary by dialect. > Middle English had a long close front vowel /iː/, and two long mid front vowels: the close-mid /eː/ and the open-mid /ɛː/. The three vowels generally correspond to the modern spellings ⟨i⟩, ⟨ee⟩ and ⟨ea⟩ respectively, but other spellings are also possible. The spellings that became established in Early Modern English are mostly still used today, b... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/9 "2019-10-15T10:58:12Z")
You might also be able to add “aire” to the air cluster, depending on the rules. It’s somewhat archaic, and I don’t think there’s any place you could use “aire” that you couldn’t use “air”, but it is a different spelling. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/10 "2019-10-15T11:09:43Z")
Many people say ‘oar’ and ‘ore’ the same way, but differently from ‘or’ and ‘Orr’. And to them, none of them sound like ‘awe’. ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/11 "2019-10-15T11:11:02Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Map of the “pen-pin merger” — the southern US: > [Phonological history of English close front vowels - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_close_front_vowels#/media/File%3APin-pen.svg) Thanks for this. Had a moment of trying to work out how “Jim” and “Gem” fit on the same list. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/12 "2019-10-15T11:12:42Z")
Right/Wright/Rite/Write? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/13 "2019-10-15T11:13:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > There is a dialect where those are pronounced the same way as oar/ore/or/Orr? Many (most?) English people would pronounce all those words identically, including “awe”. I certainly would, as I have a [non-rhotic](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/non-rhotic) accent. One possible exception: I am not familiar with the name “Orr”, but I suppose I might pronounce the “r” in that one. Even a following vowel wouldn’t break the homophone, because non-rhotic speakers would tend to put an “intrusive r” in all those cases, such that “awe and shock” would sound the same as “oar and shock”. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/14 "2019-10-15T12:54:50Z")
& how many of them can you use in one sentence? If I’m using a sharp instrument to cut two pieces of fruit I’m paring a pair of pears. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/15 "2019-10-15T13:31:24Z")
In French there is a set of 6 homophones (but only five spellings): verre, ver, vers (verse), vers (towards), vair, vert. The confusion between vair (a kind of fur) and verre (glass) is apparently the cause of Cinderella’s glass slipper in the English version. Better than a slipper of worms (ver) I guess. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/16 "2019-10-15T14:53:57Z")
Toad towed toed ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/17 "2019-10-15T15:34:50Z")
Counting creatively, I get 17 that sound like _Wales_. Of course not all speakers pronounce initial **w** and **wh** alike, and the common English pronunciation of Weyl is very unlike the original German pronunciation: 1. whales (cetaceans, not capitalized), 2. whale’s (belonging to a whale), 3. whales’ (belonging to more than one whale), 4. wails (cries), 5. wail’s (pertaining to a wail), 6. wails’ (pertaining to more than one wail), 7. Wales (the country in Britain, capitalized), 8. wales (ridges, not capitalized), 9. Wales’ (belonging to the country of Wales), 10. wale’s (pertaining to a ridge), 11. wales’ (pertaining to more than one ridge), 12. Weyls (more than one person surnamed Weyl), 13. Weyl’s (belonging to a person surnamed Weyl), 14. Weyls’ (belonging to more than one person surnamed Weyl) 15. Whales (capitalized, more than one person surnamed Whale) 16. Whale’s (belonging to a person surnamed Whale) 17. Whales’ (belonging to more than one person surnamed Whale) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/18 "2019-10-15T15:44:24Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Toad > towed > toed I pronounce ‘towed’ with a vowel that’s quite a bit longer than in ‘toad’. I think ‘toed’, as in ‘he toed the ball over the line’ is somewhere in between. Similarly there are words that I pronounce the same that others wouldn’t, eg ‘pool’ and ‘pull’. The point being that English spelling isn’t always as illogical or inexplicable as some might believe, some dialects retain distinctions that have been lost in others. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/19 "2019-10-15T17:13:24Z")
Mays – this is one of the coldest Mays in history May’s – belonging to May Maze Maize ---
**Author:** ![Calavera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calavera/32/70_2.png) [@Calavera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calavera)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774/20 "2019-10-15T17:15:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > There is a dialect where those are pronounced the same way as oar/ore/or/Orr? How else would you pronounce it? They definitely do in my mind (My inner and outer voice is RP English). I’m pretty sure I’ve heard pretty much every American accent saying things like “awesome” and “aw shucks” and they sound the same. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-syllable-words-with-the-most-spellings/841774.md?page=2)