英语的词汇比汉语大得多，而英语中的同音词要比汉语少得多。
同音词主要有几类，如专有名词与普通单词发音相同；缩略词与普通名词发音相同；名词的复数形式或动词的单数第三人称与普通单词发音相同；动词的过去式或过去分词与普通单词发音相同；因相邻字母重复与其它单词发音相同；因不同的字母组合发音相同而构成的同音词；因不发音的字母或字母组合造成的同音词；英语单词与外来词同音等几种情况。
下面列举一些最常见的英文同音词，一共有56对。
be / bee
bean / been
buy / by
eye / I
hear / here
hour / our
know / no
knows / nose
mail / male
meat / meet
plain / plane
prince / prints
right / write
road / rode
sail / sale
sea / see
son / sun
steal / steel
storey / story
tail / tale
their / there
to / two
wear / where
wood / would
ate / eight
blew / blue
brake / break
cell / sell
cent / sent
creak / creek
dear / deer
feat / feet
find / fined
hair / hare
heal / he’ll
hole / whole
made / maid
new / knew
oar / or
one / won
passed / past
poor / pour
shore / sure
so / sow
sole / soul
stair / stare
their / they're
theirs / there's
threw / through
throne / thrown
way / weigh
we’d / weed
we’ll / wheel
which / witch
who's / whose
your / you’re
