Clever Illustrations Visually Define the “Same” Words With Different Meanings

Visual Representation of Homophones by Bruce Worden

Is it soar or sore? Led or lead? If you've ever doubted your spelling or mixed up two words, Homophones, Weakly is for you. For five years, illustrator Bruce Worden made it his mission to ensure that you'd never get your homophones confused again. In case you don't remember, homophones are two or more words having the same pronunciation, but different spelling and meaning.

Through clever, black and white illustrations, Worden makes it a bit easier to remember that gorilla and guerilla are two very different words. From 2011 to 2016, Worden posted new homophones each week, and now he updates his project occasionally. “I was inspired to do it because I felt like, as spell-check software became more and more reliable, I was seeing a surprising amount of homophone typos slipping through professionally edited content—presumably because the software still recognized them as real words and there weren't enough human eyes on the job,” Worden tells My Modern Met. “I just wanted to do something to be ‘part of the solution' instead of shaking my fist at the air.”

What seems like child's play at first is quite interesting for lovers of the English language, as one discovers just how many homophones exist. Worden hopes his illustrations will make people chuckle, while also helping them remember spelling they may have a hard time with. He recently published a Homophones, Weakly book with 150 of the best illustrations from the blog. Catch the limited edition on Gumroad while you can.

For 5 years, illustrator Bruce Worden created clever, simple visuals to help people remember their homophones.

English Homophones

Visual Representation of Homophones by Bruce Worden

Homophone Illustration by Bruce Worden

Homophones, Weakly by Bruce Worden

Homophone Illustration by Bruce Worden

Homophone Illustration by Bruce Worden

Homophone Illustration by Bruce Worden

Homophone Illustration by Bruce Worden

Homophones are a set of two or more words having the same pronunciation, but different spelling and meaning.

Homophones, Weakly by Bruce Worden

Homophones, Weakly by Bruce Worden

Visual Representation of Homophones by Bruce Worden

Visual Representation of Homophones by Bruce Worden

Homophone Illustration by Bruce Worden

Homophone Illustration by Bruce Worden

Homophones, Weakly by Bruce Worden

English Homophones

Homophone Illustration by Bruce Worden

A homophone is a type of homonym—words that sound alike but have different meanings.

Visual Representation of Homophones by Bruce Worden

Visual Representation of Homophones by Bruce Worden

English Homophones

English Homophones

English Homophones

Visual Representation of Homophones by Bruce Worden

Visual Representation of Homophones by Bruce Worden

Homophones, Weakly by Bruce Worden

Homophones, Weakly: Website | Facebook | Gumroad

My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by Bruce Worden.

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Designer Spends a Year Creating Logos That Subtly Reveal the Meaning of Words

Jessica Stewart

Jessica Stewart is a Contributing Writer and Digital Media Specialist for My Modern Met, as well as a curator and art historian. Since 2020, she is also one of the co-hosts of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. She earned her MA in Renaissance Studies from University College London and now lives in Rome, Italy. She cultivated expertise in street art which led to the purchase of her photographic archive by the Treccani Italian Encyclopedia in 2014. When she’s not spending time with her three dogs, she also manages the studio of a successful street artist. In 2013, she authored the book 'Street Art Stories Roma' and most recently contributed to 'Crossroads: A Glimpse Into the Life of Alice Pasquini'. You can follow her adventures online at @romephotoblog.
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