English homophones
bead/bede
"bead" (#16,178 written frequency) beats "bede" (#43,050) in this 2-word /biːd/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /biːd/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "bead" leads at #16,178, with "bede" trailing at #43,050.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- Shared stem "be" then splits - "bead" (4 letters) vs "bede" (4).
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across bead, bede: bde. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
bead
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory abde · private a
bede
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVCV
Inventory bde · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "bead" when you mean: Prayer, later especially with a rosary.
- Write "bede" when you mean: Prayer, request, supplication
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (bead, bede). Here's where to go from here.
- "bead" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #16,178 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: bay · bey. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "bead, bede" 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.