some examples of these, bc that personally helps me with remembering this stuff:
peeked - she peeked between the curtains, trying to catch a glimpse of what lay beyond.
peaked - the movie had peaked in the 80s, but it had stayed quite popular throughout the 90s as well.
piqued - the prospect of hearing such a tantalizing tale piqued my interest.
phased - berets have phased in and out over the years, but they’ve never quite gone away.
fazed - he wasn’t at all fazed by her biting tone.
weary - after such a grueling trial, it would be a wonder if any of them weren’t weary.
wary - growing up, my mother cautioned me to be wary of strangers.
due time - he will pay his dues in due time.
do time - “it’s time to do this,” she said. i hid my grin. “yup,” i agreed. “it’s do time.”
per se - her answer was not per se troublesome, but the look on her face when she gave it concerned me.
per say - (i couldn’t think of a sentence that worked, but the implication seems to be that someone is being charged something for each opportunity they have to make their opinions known)
breathe - as the smoke cleared, it soon became much easier to breathe.
breath - as the killer passed, i pressed my hands over my mouth and held my breath, certain he would hear the rapid thumping of my heart
wander - the dog has a tendency to wander, so we made sure to get her micro-chipped.
wonder - the beauty of the waterfall was a wonder to behold.
defiant - he remained defiant even as the guards dragged him away.
definite - though our scientists have been hard at work, they have yet to reach a definite conclusion.
wanton - she charged forward, swinging her axe with a wanton glee for the carnage to come.
wonton - i was surprised to hear he’d never had wonton soup before, so of course we had to order that as well.
bawl - almost as soon as the plane had taken into the air, no less than seven babies began to bawl.
ball - we balled so hard i thought my eyes would fall out. (the joke is that “to ball” is in some places slang for “to have sexual intercourse”, so you technically “ball your eyes out” isn’t wrong, it’s just hyperbole, much like “bawl your eyes out” or “laugh your ass off”. still kinda a weird thing to say, though)
sike - “sike!” she cried, momentarily confusing me, until i followed her finger to where hungarian bantamweight greco-roman wrestler andrás sike stood waving at us.
psych - if i don’t stop overthinking this, i’m going to psych myself out!
sleight - skillful sleight of hand is a requirement for a successful magician.
slight - he had a slight frame, which he was trying and failing to conceal with a massive overcoat.
complementary - her shirt was complementary to her shoes.
complimentary - the coffee was complimentary, the waitress had told me with a smile. (quick note– the coffee picture up there is cute, but incorrect. “complimentary” means both “expressing a compliment” and “free of charge” - a complementary coffee would be a coffee that goes really well with something)
discrete - as you can see, there are several discrete shelves for each genre of book.
discreet - i’d never once worried about confessing my worries to her, as she’d never had any issue being discreet.
born - jesus was born in a manger.
borne - jesus was borne by mary.
(for those last two, please ignore if you’re reading this before 1775, in which case it doesn’t apply to you and you needn’t worry about it)
lightening - during the last weeks of pregnancy, you will experience lightening. (note: this refers to the noun; also called “dropping”)
lightning - there might be a lightning storm this tuesday! (note: technically this actually did used to be spelled as “lightening”, but then that got contracted to “light'ning”, which eventually became “lightning”. so… not wrong but no longer technically correct either)
loose - to the captain’s horror, the knot was far too loose– whoever had tied it, he vowed, they’d be swabbin’ the decks for the rest of the year, assuming they survived the storm.
lose - i have to admit, i really do hate to lose.
affect - your attitude will affect your chances.
effect - the emperor wielded his power to great effect.
(those last two are really challenging for me, so i decided to throw some alliteration in there)
there - “look there!” he cried, pointing towards the horizon. i gasped as i too saw the outline of a ship cresting the waves.
their - it was their concern, not mine, so i bit my tongue.
they’re - they’re going to over there, to their house.
to - to infinity, and beyond!
two - the students split themselves into six groups of two and one group of three.
too - you’ve gone too far!
and a few more i know people struggle with:
its - the dog tilted its head inquisitively to the side.
it’s (it is) - “it’s a damn shame,” the old woman said with a sigh.
it’s (it has) - “it’s been quite a day,” the postman chuckled nervously.
(this one is really confusing, but “it’s” DOES NOT DENOTE POSSESSION - it’s exclusively used as a contraction. the possessive form is the one without the apostrophe, so for anyone who uses it/its pronouns, that’s the one you should use. for example, “laura laughed uproariously, its shoulders shaking” - the shoulders are laura’s, laura uses it/its. also, “it’s laura’s turn to do the dishes” - laura’s pronouns aren’t coming into play, it’s simply its turn to do the dishes)
your - your name is sally.
you’re - you’re named sally.
(the easiest thing to do with contractions is, in my experience, to break them up. if you aren’t sure whether the contracted word is the right one, use the full version instead. for example, if the sentence you have is “you’re cat has escaped”, try breaking that up. “you are cat has escaped” doesn’t really make sense, so you know to use “your” instead - “your cat has escaped”)
would’ve - i would’ve done it myself, but i didn’t want to step on your toes. (this is the contracted form of “would have”)
would of - just incorrect; this one doesn’t work in any way that i’m aware of
advice - i gave him a piece of advice.
advise - i would advise against that.
(the difference for those two is that advice is a noun and advise is a verb)
calender - i put the paper in the calender.
calendar - i made sure to mark the date on my calendar.
(a calendar is used to keep track of times and whatnot; a calender is a machine you press paper in)
capital - lilongwe is the capital of malawi.
capitol - the legislators assembled in the capitol.
principal - she recently became the principal of the local elementary school!
principle - these are the principles upon which this chess club was founded.
counsel - i would counsel you to exercise caution, my liege.
council - the city council voted to ban man-eating shrubbery.
rein - i tried my best to rein him in.
reign - the reign of the empress lasted thirty-seven years.
rain - rain beats down, down on the outer walls.
choke - thick smoke billowed around us, and we started to choke.
chock - as the airplane rolled to a halt, the wheel bumped gently against the chock.
whine - much to my irritation, he soon began to whine.
wine - she doesn’t have a drinking problem, although she’s quite fond of wine.
y'all (you all) - y'all best come inside now!
ya’ll (you will) - ya’ll have to try harder than that to beat me!
vicious - he gave me a vicious grin
viscous - viscous saliva dripped from the creature’s jaws.
except - everyone except jim came to the party.
accept - i invited an old friend, but i hadn’t expected her to accept.
insure - a subsidiary was set up to insure risks.
ensure - you are to ensure that none of these pesky adventurers escape this dungeon alive!
assure - i assure you, the toothpick roller-coaster is completely safe.
then - if you want me to believe you, then you’re going to have to prove it.
than - i felt safer with her than with her sister.
bear - this is a burden you cannot bear alone.
bare - he ran through the woods completely bare.
uninterested - as a child, i was completely uninterested in boys, so it took me a while to realize i was gay.
disinterested - a judge should always remain disinterested.
(note: disinterested does not mean “lacking interest”, but refers instead to impartiality. however, this misconception is so widespread that it’s frequently used as synonymous with uninterested, although that’s also the earliest known usage of the word, so it’s really up to you whether you care)
emigrate - brian said his dad is going to emigrate from belgium!
immigrate - alice’s aunt is going to immigrate to czechoslovakia.
e.g. - i don’t like sad events (e.g. funerals).
i.e. - cats are quadrupeds, i.e., they have four feet.
(e.g. stands for “exempli gratia”, which means “for the sake of example”, and i.e. stands for “id est”, which means “that is”)
stationary - a properly parked car will remain stationary.
stationery - i love buying new pens at the stationery store.
whose - i wonder whose table that is.
who’s - who’s that man over there?
a lot - there sure are a lot of geese in that lake.
allot - i’ll allot each group ten minutes for their presentations.
adverse - the toads had an adverse impact on the region’s environment.
averse - he’s very averse to noise, so he spends a lot of time in the library.
aisle - whenever my family takes plane trips, my mother always insists on the seat closest to the aisle.
isle - the isle was only an hour away by boat.
allusion - his novel makes a striking allusion to the alexiad by princess anna komnene.
illusion - the witch conjured a powerful illusion to distract her pursuers.
pursue - i will pursue that witch to the ends of the earth!
peruse - he began to peruse the books in the history section.
ascent - the ascent up the mountain quickly grew more and more challenging.
assent - i couldn’t think of any better plan, so i reluctantly nodded in assent.
canvas - together, we painted the sunset on the canvas.
canvass - as a politician, she has to take some time to canvass for votes.
cloth - his dress was made from a deep red cloth.
clothe - i can’t afford to lose this job; i have to feed and clothe my children!
clothes - my grandmother kept her clothes in a small wardrobe.
complacent - she’d been at the top of the class for so long, she’d gotten complacent.
complaisant - she had a cheerful, complaisant nature, so she got along with everyone quite quickly.
defuse - he did his best to defuse the bomb.
diffuse - thanks to the internet, it’s possible for ideas to diffuse even further and far more quickly.
disassemble - the pieces snap together, so it’s not hard to put together or disassemble.
dissemble - he’s a straightforward, honest person, so he won’t dissemble just to spare your feelings.
elicit - i managed to elicit a response after hours of pestering.
illicit - he bought some illicit drugs.
eminent - his brilliance led to his rise as an eminent scientist.
immanent - death is immanent in life.
imminent - climate change is an imminent crisis.
preeminent - the mona lisa is a preeminent example of da vinci’s work.
flesh out - tumblr user’s like to flesh out movie and tv plots.
flush out - hunters may use hounds to flush out their prey.
pray - i will pray for his safe recovery.
prey - cats are famous for toying with their prey.
hangar - the airplane was safely led into the hangar.
hanger - he hung up his coat on a hanger.
hoard - she had a veritable hoard of trophies.
horde - a horde of people flooded the streets.
levee - i drove my chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry.
levy - he intended to levy a tax on imported goods.
loathe - i loathe that man.
loath/loth - i am loath to the thought of leaving you here.
(note: for that last one, due to how frequent incorrect usage is, there’s a strong argument to be made that at this point “loathe” is effectively just a variant spelling for “loath”)
marinate - i let the chicken marinate in the sauce.
marinade - i made a marinade for the chicken.
palate - she pressed her tongue against her palate.
palette - the artist poured several splotches of paint on their palette.
pallet - all he had to sleep on was a lumpy pallet.
past - though he tried and failed many times in the past, jeremy still believed he could climb the rock wall.
passed - i passed by her house the other day.
perpetrate - i plan to perpetrate a burglary tonight.
perpetuate - if the system is not changed, all it will do is perpetuate the problem it is intended to solve.
pored over - i pored over my textbook for hours.
poured over - poured over the pasta was a thick, creamy sauce i’d never seen before.
prescribed - the doctor prescribed him some medicine.
proscribed - murder is among many things proscribed by the law.
suit - she wore a crisp suit to the wedding.
suite - the twins lived in a hotel suite.
taut - to my relief, the rope remained taut.
tout - she does her best to tout her wares.
there are more but i’ve been doing this for. a while and my wrist is hurting. feel free to ask me for any clarification, or if there are other words you’re struggling with and need an example for!
tldr: the coffee image is wrong. if you take nothing else away from this, take that. both of those images show a complimentary coffee.