In English we have words called homophones (homo = same, phone = sound) like bear and bare, idle and idol, among many others. Spanish also has homophones and, for the untrained ear, it can be somewhat difficult at first. We give you now some examples of words that have the same sound but are written differently.

baca (luggage-rack) – vaca (cow)

bacilo (bacillus) – vacilo (I hesitate, I waver)

barón (baron) – varón (male)

bello (beautiful) – vello (body hair)

grabar (to record) – gravar (to tax)

rebelarse (to rebel) – revelarse (to reveal oneself)

tubo (tube) – tuvo (he/she had)

calló (he was silent) – cayó (he fell down)

halla (he finds) – haya (have – haber in subjunctive)

rallar (to grate food) – rayar (to scratch)

hola (hi, hello) – ola (wave)

hecho (past participle of hacer; deed, act) – echo (I throw)

hasta (until, up to) – asta (flagpole, bull horn)

In this article from Argentinean newspaper El Clarín you can find many of these words used in context.

See you next time!