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I was working on this video, and I 
got confused. I’m an English teacher,  

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and the English language totally confused me. 
I had to write out a chart to sort it out.  

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Today we’re talking about Amazing English words, 
heteronyms, we’re increasing our vocabulary,  

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and we’re talking about how crazy 
and confusing English can be.

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There are lots of reasons why English is crazy, 
and today we’re focusing on words that look  

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the same, but they aren’t the same. Let me 
introduce you to my three nieces. Triplets.  

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Looking pretty similar, perhaps hard to 
tell apart by looking, but get to know them,  

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and you get to know their aura, their 
being, and you see how they are different.  

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We’re going to do that today with English. 
Take this word for example. As a verb,  

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it’s project. Second syllable stress, and it means 
to estimate, to guess something about the future.  

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So instead of saying, “I think we’ll be 
two days ahead of schedule,” you could say,  

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“We project we’ll be two days ahead of 
schedule.” It’s a next-level vocabulary word,  

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a little more sophisticated, maybe a little more 
formal. As a noun, it looks the same as this.

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The pronunciation is different though, 
and the meaning too. Now it’s project,  

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a noun, a piece of work planned to achieve 
a certain goal. For example, I have a  

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school project - I have to build a birdfeeder. A 
project can be big: We have a big house project,  

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we’re gutting and redoing our bathroom. If you’re 
gutting something in a house, you’re tearing down  

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most things but not the outside walls and starting 
over: new flooring, fixtures, maybe moving walls,  

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and so on. That is to gut a house for a room. It’s 
a big project. But a project can also be small:  

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I have a bunch of small projects to do around the 
house this weekend, like watering all the plants.

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It also means to extend out from something, to 
protrude. Protrude is another great vocabulary  

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word. Look at these images of the Sky Walk 
at the Grand Canyon. It shows a walkway that  

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extends from the building, it sticks out, it 
protrudes, it projects out over the canyon.

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These symbols that you see with the words, showing 
the different pronunciations, are called the  

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International Phonetic Alphabet. And they come in 
really handy when you’re trying to write sounds.  

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It’s definitely worth becoming familiar with 
the symbols for the sounds of American English,  

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so I encourage you to download my 
free Sounds of American English  

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Cheat Sheet. I give you the symbols for 
each sound as well as an illustration for  

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how to make it. You can get it free 
by clicking here or the link below.

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ProJECT: to estimate. PROject: a 
piece of work with a certain goal.  

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ProJECT: to stick out. One spelling, looks 
the same. Different meanings, different uses,  

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different pronunciations. These are called 
heteronyms. This is a subset of homogpraph.

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‘Homo’ or homo means ‘same’ and ‘graph’ relates 
to writing. So these are words that are written  

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the same, the same spelling. Homograph. If the 
pronunciation is the same, that’s a homonym.  

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If the pronunciation is different, that’s a 
heteronym, and that’s what we’ll study today.

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If the pronunciation is the same but the 
spelling is different, that’s called a homophone,  

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English is full of them, and I have a very 
long video that goes over a lot of those.  

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I’ll put a link to that in the video description 
in the description for this video.   
 

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Ok. Heteronyms. I’ve put together 
a list and I’ll go alphabetically.  

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This is not an absolute complete list, and some 
of these words may have many definitions and I  

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haven’t always listed each one. Some 
of these have related meanings. For example,  

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HOUSE, with and S, a structure to live in. We 
bought a new house and are moving next month. But  

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as a verb, HOUSE, it means to provide a home for. 
We house international students in our guest room.  

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Noun with an S sound and 
Verb with a Z sound. House,  

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houze. In this video, I’m leaving out 
that kind of pair where the meanings are  

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related and I’m focusing more on heteronyms 
where the meaning is completely different.

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Affect - feelings or emotions. He had a really 
flat affect. I couldn’t tell if he was happy,  

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sad or angry. Flat affect. No expression.

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Affect - to make a difference to. 
Being around smokers affected her  

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health and she developed asthma. 
That’s asthma, with a silent TH.

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Affect. Affect

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By the way, a huge thanks to all my supporters 
here on YouTube and my subscribers on Facebook,  

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everyone who has joined my channel. Youtube gives 
you special badges to make your comments pop,  

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early release of videos when available, 
access to members-only posts and videos,  

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and the top tier gets a free monthly audio 
lesson. Thank you! Click JOIN to learn more.

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AL-ternate: to switch back 
and forth. We alternate who  

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gets up with the baby in the middle of the night.

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AL-ter-nit: a different one, or the 
next choice. The student that was  

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chosen for my live class wasn’t available, so 
I worked with an alternate student instead.

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AL-ternate. AL-ter-nit

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Address: a speech. I’m giving an address 
at a conference later this month.

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Uh-dress: the location of a building, 
the direction for a piece of mail.  

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What’s your uh-ddress? I’ll send you a postcard.

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Now, here’s a higher-level vocabulary use 
for this word: to think about or deal with  

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an issue or a problem. How do we address 
the issue of malnutrition in seniors?  

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Now, as a verb, “how do we address this issue?” – 
it’s always uh-dress, with second-syllable stress.

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Address. Uh-dress.

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BASS with the AA vowel is a kind of fish.  

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For tonight’s special, we’re 
offering a grilled striped bass.

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But change the pronunciation to the AY 
diphthong, bass, it’s an object, an upright bass,  

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or a bass guitar, it’s also, in 4-part harmony, 
the lowest voice. Bass, tenor, alto, soprano.  

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And guess what? This pronunciation of ‘bass’ 
is a homophone with this word: b-a-s-e,  

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base. That means they sound the same but they’re 
spelled differently. And this word, base,  

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has a lot of meanings. It means the lowest part 
of something. You need a strong base to support  

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the bridge. It means the center of operations. 
This clothing brand is based in Los Angeles.  

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It’s one of these things, that you have to 
touch or stand on in baseball to be safe,  

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and because of all the baseball idioms we 
have, there are some idioms with this word.  

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If you’re way off-base, that means you’re not 
at the truth, you’re mistaken. For example,  

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“Hey guys, I solved the problem! 
Look, this is how we do it”.  

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“No, I don’t think so, I think that’s still 
pretty off-base.” Or have you heard the phrase  

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touch base? We use this all the time to check in 
on something or someone. For example, let’s say  

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you sell software. You have a company interested 
in a big purchase. You haven’t heard from them  

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in a while, so you want to check in with them. You 
could call them up and say, “Hey, I just wanted to  

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touch base to see if you wanted to move forward, 
or if you have any questions I can answer.”

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Bass, bass, base.

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Bow. It means to bend over like 
you may do after a performance.  

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You may bow after playing your bass in a concert.

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Bow - in your hair, you may tie a 
pretty bow for that concert. Bow, bow.

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Close

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Physical proximity. I’m not quite close 
enough to reach it. This is with an  

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S but end that with a Z, close, it’s the 
opposite of open. Please close the door.

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Close. Close.

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CON-sole. A cabinet, like for a TV, 
a gaming device. The thing between  

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the front seats of your car where you store stuff.  

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One time I spilled a whole container of Tom-Yum 
soup all over the console of my car, it got in  

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every nook and cranny, and my car smelled like 
Tom-Yum for months despite many cleanings.

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CON sole. But also, conSOLE. To 
offer emotional support, to comfort.  

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I consoled my son after he 
lost an important soccer game.

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Console. Console.

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CONtract - An official written agreement. 
They offered him a 3-year modeling contract.

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conTRACT - to decrease in size, number, 
or range. Your heart contracts about 70  

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times a minute. The opposite of this word 
is expand. Wood doors expand and contract  

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depending on moisture and humidity. Have you 
ever noticed if it’s really humid that you  

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might have to work harder to close a door? 
That’s because it has expanded a little.

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Also, conTRACT, to catch or 
develop a disease or infection.  

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He contracted Covid-19 at a birthday party.

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Contract. Contract

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DESert. One S, an arid region. The 
Sahara is the world’s largest desert.

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But, also desert. Stress changes now.  

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deSERT. To leave, to abandon. 
Don’t desert me now. I need you.

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And now this pronunciation is a homophone,  

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that is, it sounds the same but it’s 
spelled differently from this word,  

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dessert, two s’s but it’s still pronounced Z! 
And this is something delicious and sweet to  

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eat at the end of a meal. I let the kids have 
ice cream for dessert a couple of times a week.

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DESert, deSERT, dessert.

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DIgest - a compilation or 
summary of information. 

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Golf Digest brings together golf news 
from all over the world to one place.

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diGEST - This is how your body breaks down 
food. Though we usually think of food for this,  

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we can also use it with information 
or news – to take in and understand.  

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I’m trying to study for a big test 
but there’s just so much to digest.

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Dove (DUV) - a beautiful bird. They 
released doves at their wedding.

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Dove (DOHVE): past tense of 
dive. He dove into the water.

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Dove. Dove.

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Incense (INsense): something that’s 
burned for the smell it gives off.  

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Some churches burn incense during services.

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But, incense (inSENCE) means to make really 
angry. This is a great next-level vocabulary  

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word to use instead of ‘mad’. I snuck out 
after curfew and my parents were incensed.

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Incense. Incense.

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Invalid (INvalid). Someone 
who’s sick a lot of the time.  

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She’s sort of an invalid and 
doesn’t really leave the house.

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Invalid (In VALid). Not valid, not legitimate,  

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not legally acceptable. Your passport is 
an inVALid form of ID because it expired.

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Invalid. Invalid

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Lead (LEED) - to guide. You lead the 
way; I don’t know where I’m going.

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But also, Lead (LEHD), the chemical element.  

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Lead poisoning in children is a 
problem in the Philadelphia area.

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And here’s what's funny, the past tense of  

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lead is pronounced LED but it’s spelled L-E-D. 
So L-E-D is a homophone, sounds the same as  

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LEAD the element, which is a heteronym with the 
present tense of LED, LEAD. Is that confusing??

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Lead. Lead. Led

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Minute (MINute) - 60 seconds. I’ll be back in 
five minutes. Also, have you ever heard the phrase  

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“Wait a minute”? It doesn’t actually mean to wait 
a minute. It means something is not understood or  

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stop. Wait a minute, I thought you said she was in 
high school, but she’s in college? Wait a minute.

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Minute (mai-NYOOT), extremely small,  

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insignificant. You have to focus on the overall 
project and not get stuck on minute details.

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Minute. Minute.

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Object (OBject) - a thing. There were some objects 
on the table, but I couldn’t tell what they were.

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Object (obJECT) - to disagree. I object 
to that interpretation of the law.

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Object. Object.

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Patronize

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This one is crazy because it has  

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opposite meanings, and both are 
great next-level vocabulary words.

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If you patronize something, you go there 
as a customer. A restaurant, a theater,  

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and so on. We like to patronize 
our local shops whenever possible  

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rather than buying from big box stores. A big box 
store would be like a Walmart, CVS, or Target.  

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So instead of saying, I like to shop at my local 
pharmacy, or, I like to buy things at my local  

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pharmacy, you could say, I like to patronize my 
local pharmacy. And that’s a good thing. Your  

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local businesses want you to patronize them. 
They want you to go spend your money there.

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So you want somebody to patronize (PAYtronize) 
you, but you don’t want them to PATronize you.  

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To patronize is to talk down to someone, to 
feel superior to them. He patronizes a lot of  

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people at work because he thinks he’s better than 
them. If you think someone is doing this to you,  

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you could say, 'Stop patronizing me.' Now, this 
meaning can also be pronounced PAYtonized.

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Patronize. Patronize.

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Polish (PAHlish) - to shine something. 
I need to get these shoes polished,  

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they’re looking kind of old.

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But, with a capital P, it’s Polish, 
which means from or relating to Poland.  

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There are a lot of Polish 
restaurants in this area.

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Polish. Polish.

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PREsent: a gift. I got her a present for 
her birthday. Or, to be physically there.  

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She was not present at the meeting. It 
also means this very moment. Not the past,  

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not the future, but the present. Meditation 
helps you feel present in the moment.

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But we also have preZENT: 
to formally give something.  

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He’s going to present his research at the next 
meeting. This means everyone will be quiet,  

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watching, paying attention to this “presentation”.

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Present. Present.

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A record is this thing. It can also mean 
something official to be kept track of or stated:  

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For the record, I think this trip is going 
to be a disaster, but I will go with you.

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But it can also mean to 
write down, to keep track of,  

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or to capture like audio or video. Do 
you mind if I record our conversation?

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Record. Record.

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Resume (reZUM) - to start again. We’ll take 
a 15-minute break then resume the meeting.

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But it’s also pronounced REzume,  

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and it means a document of your work experience. 
It’s sometimes written with these accent marks,  

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but doesn’t have to be. To apply for the 
job, please send a cover letter and resume.

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Resume. Resume.

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SUBject means theme. The subject of today’s 
lecture is American English Pronunciation.

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SubJECT means to expose to 
or to force upon someone.  

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He was subjected to a lot of verbal 
abuse by his boss at his old job.

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Tear (Teer): fluid in the eye. There 
was a tear running down his cheek  

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even though he was trying not to cry.

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Tear: a rip, Oh no, there’s a tear in a page of 
my son’s favorite book. And this pronunciation is  

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a homophone, sounds the same, tare. T-a-r-e. This 
word means the weight of something. For example,  

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you would tare a scale if you set something 
on it, but you don’t want that factored into  

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the total weight. I might put the bowl on the 
scale, tare it, and then add 50 grams of sugar.

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Tear. Tare.

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Wind (WAInd) - to roll, coil, to have a circular  

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direction. I have to wind the crank on my 
desk to raise it to a standing position.

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Wind (WIHnd): the natural motion of 
air. Expect heavy wind and rain today.

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Wind. Wind.

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Wound. Now, the first pronunciation is the past  

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tense of what we just one of the words we 
just learned, wAInd. I wound the crank.

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But it’s also pronounced woooond, 
and in this case it means  

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an injury. He has an open wound from the fire.

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Wound, wound.

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Now, there are more heteronyms than what 
I put here, so if you can think of a pair,  

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put it in the comments below. Are you going to 
level-up your vocabulary with any of these words?  

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Which one do you think will 
be the most useful for you?

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Thank you so much for studying with 
me. Keep your learning going now with  

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this video. Please subscribe here 
on YouTube and be sure to turn on  

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notifications. I make new videos on the English 
language every week and I’d love to see you here.  

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That’s it, and thanks so much 
for using Rachel’s English.