Pronunciation · lesson 10 of 24 · free

Same spelling, different sound — English pronunciation practice

The same letters can say different things: ea in “eat” and “bread”, oo in “food” and “book”, and ough in “tough”, “though”, “thought” and “through”. Learning words in sound groups is the easiest way.

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How to say it

Learn the word, not just the letters — “ea, oo and ough have more than one sound — group words that sound alike”

  1. ea: long ee (eat, sea), short e (bread, head), or ay (great, break).
  2. oo: long (food, moon), short (book, good), or uh (blood, flood).
  3. ough: uff (tough), oh (though), aw (thought), oo (through).

Use it for: Reading aloud in class and saying words like weather, heavy, ready, great and enough correctly.

Worked example: In which word does “ea” sound the same as in “bread”? → breakfast

  1. In “bread”, ea is a short e, as in “bed”.
  2. “breakfast” has the same short e: BREK-fust. Speak and dream have a long ee.

Check: br-ea-d and br-ea-kfast: both short e ✓

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✏️ Practice

Listen (🔊) or read, then tap your choice. Say each word aloud after you check. Stuck? Press “Show me how”.

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🏁 Lesson 10 test

20 questions. Check each answer, then go to the next one. Get 16 or more right to pass.

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🖨️ Same Spelling Different Sound Worksheet

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