 Don't mix up these ten English homophones from espressoenglish.net. The English language has many homophones, words that have the same pronunciation, but different spellings and meanings. A lot of English learners confuse these, but in today's lesson, you'll learn how to use ten English homophones correctly. Stare The verb stare means to look directly at something for a long time. We often stare at things we are interested in or surprised or shocked by. A stare is another word for a step. A series of stares can be called a flight of stares. Roll The verb roll refers to the action of a ball when it is moving along a surface. The noun roll refers to someone's position, responsibility, or area of effectiveness, such as your role in your company. Flower A flower is a beautiful, colorful plant. Flower is a white powder made from grains, which is used in baking. Idol The noun idol refers to someone or something who is greatly praised, admired, and worshipped. The adjective idol describes someone who is not productive, not doing anything. Deer The word deer is used to begin letters. It also means something is special or precious to you, for example, a deer friend. A deer is a type of animal that lives in the forest. Deer is irregular, and the plural is also deer. Council A council refers to a group of people who discuss and or make decisions, for example, a city council. Council refers to advice. It is uncountable, so you can't say a council, but you can say he gave me some council. It can also be a verb. He counseled me about my academic plans. Waste The verb waste means to make bad use of something in a way that's not useful. For example, throwing away food that is still good is wasting it. Your waste is the middle part of your body, around your stomach, just above your hips and legs. Ascent Ascent refers to agreement or approval, or expressing that agreement or approval. It can be a noun or a verb. For example, the manager gave her ascent, or assented, to the project. Ascent refers to going up, either physically, like up a mountain, or in status or hierarchy. It is only a noun. The verb form is ascend. For example, I was hiking up a mountain and broke my leg during the ascent. Hole The word hole is another way to say entire, or 100% of something. For example, he ate the whole cake, means he ate all of the cake. A hole is an opening in a surface or in the ground. When these are in the road, we often call them potholes. Illicit Illicit is a verb meaning to cause or bring out. For example, the teacher tried to illicit answers from the class. Illicit is an adjective describing something that is against the law. For example, he spent 10 years in jail due to his participation in illicit activities. These 10 words are pronounced the same way. However, English also has many words that have very small pronunciation differences, like bit and beat, share and chair, and many more. When you master these small differences, you'll sound more like a native English speaker, and my American English pronunciation course can help you do that. Click on the link in the video or in the description for more information and to sign up. This course has a lot of listen and repeat exercises, as well as a pronunciation evaluation at the end. You can also get my Shadowing with Shayna course for additional practice and training.