English homophones

bao/bough

"bao" (#24,388 written frequency) beats "bough" (#40,156) in this 2-word /baʊ/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.

Data vintage 2026-09-03

Frequency splits the cluster

These 2 spellings keep the same /baʊ/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "bao" leads at #24,388, with "bough" trailing at #40,156.

No shared spelling stem: "bao" is 3 letters, "bough" is 5; only the sound ties them.

Shared letters across bao, bough: bo. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

Write "bao" when you mean: Any of various types of steamed bread or bun used in Chinese cuisine
Write "bough" when you mean: A tree-branch, usually a primary one directly attached to the trunk.

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

noun · /baʊ/ · #24,388 frequency

Any of various types of steamed bread or bun used in Chinese cuisine

noun · /baʊ/ · #40,156 frequency

A tree-branch, usually a primary one directly attached to the trunk.

What to do next

You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (bao, bough). Here's where to go from here.

"bao" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #24,388 in English). Full entry
Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: bait · bate. Nearby cluster
Each spelling in "bao, bough" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.