Assure, ensure and insure are words that sound similar but have different meanings. Ensure and insure are homonyms that both rhyme with assure.

Assure

Assure means to help dispel doubts someone has and give them confidence in the outcome. Definitions on dictionary.com include "declare earnestly to" and "to give surety of."

Example sentences:

• I assure you those bears in the woods are completely harmless.
• What assurances do I have that the bears will not attack me?
• The cable installer assured me there would be little to no downtime.

Ensure

Ensure is defined as "to make sure, certain, or safe" according to Merriam-Webster with guarantee listed as a synonym.

Example sentences:

What can we do to ensure the dangerous bears in the woods do not break through our fence?

Extra measures will be required to ensure fences are made strong enough to withstand multiple bear attacks.

Insure

The word insure is used in the insurance industry. It means to arrange for compensation in the event of damage or loss to something or the injury or death of someone.

• We want to insure our home against a bear attack.
• Taylor Swift denied rumors she had her legs insured for millions of dollars.
• Should you insure your smartphone?

Here is a great video explanation of the three words from Learn English with Emma. She describes the words and gives some practice questions to test your knowledge.

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