多音字: Chinese Characters With Multiple Pronunciations

You learn that 行 is xíng — "to go", "OK". Then you walk past a 银行 and it is yínháng. Same character, different sound, different meaning. Characters like this are called 多音字 (duōyīnzì), literally "many-sound characters", and there are a few hundred of them in common use.

They feel like the language playing tricks on you, but there is one rule that dissolves almost all of the difficulty:

The word decides the reading, not the character. Nobody reads 行 on its own and works out which sound to use. They know the word 银行, and the word only has one pronunciation. Learn vocabulary as whole words and 多音字 mostly stop being a problem.

Below are 43 of the most common 多音字, each with every standard reading, what that reading means, and a real word that pins it down. Tap to hear the word read aloud.

Why the audio plays a word, not the character. A lone 多音字 has no single correct pronunciation — any text-to-speech voice has to guess. So every audio button here plays the example word, where the reading is unambiguous. That is also exactly how you should practise them.

The Four Reasons a Character Splits

Knowing why a character has two readings makes them far easier to remember than rote memorisation:

  1. The part of speech changes. 好 is hǎo as the adjective "good", but hào as the verb "to be fond of" (爱好, a hobby). Same idea, different grammatical role. 数 works the same way: shù the noun "number", shǔ the verb "to count".
  2. The meanings genuinely diverged long ago and the writing never split them. 行 xíng "to go" and 行 háng "a row, a trade" have been separate words for millennia — they just share a glyph.
  3. Literary vs colloquial doublets. Some characters have a formal reading used in written compounds and a casual one used in speech, with no change in meaning. 血 is xuè in 血液 but xiě when you say someone is bleeding. Register, not semantics.
  4. Simplification merged two characters into one. 发 is the modern form of both 發 (fā, to send out) and 髮 (fà, hair). In traditional script there is no ambiguity at all — this particular 多音字 only exists in simplified Chinese. The same is true of 干 (乾 dry / 幹 to do).
Careful with machine translation. Tools that translate character by character will happily read 银行 as "silver + to go". Our Pinyin Translator and Pinyin Annotator match whole words first, which is what gets 多音字 right.

The Core 多音字 — Learn These First

These turn up inside HSK 1–3 vocabulary, so you will meet both readings early whether you plan to or not.

Character Reading What it means Example word Listen
行
★
 xíng to go, to walk; to be OK 不行 bù xíng — not OK, no way
háng row, line; trade, profession 银行 yínháng — bank
得
★
 dé to get, to obtain 得到 dédào — to obtain
děi must, have to 我得走了 wǒ děi zǒu le — I have to go
de particle linking a verb to how it is done 跑得快 pǎo de kuài — runs fast
好
★
 hǎo good, well 好人 hǎorén — a good person
hào to like, to be fond of 爱好 àihào — hobby
觉
★
 jué to feel, to sense 觉得 juéde — to feel, to think
jiào sleep (as a noun) 睡觉 shuìjiào — to sleep
长
★
 cháng long (in space or time) 长城 Chángchéng — the Great Wall
zhǎng to grow; elder, chief 长大 zhǎngdà — to grow up
还
★
 hái still, also, even more 还有 hái yǒu — there is also
huán to return something 还书 huán shū — to return a book
都
★
 dōu all, both 都是 dōu shì — all are
dū capital city 首都 shǒudū — capital
乐
★
 lè happy, joyful 快乐 kuàilè — happy
yuè music 音乐 yīnyuè — music
教
★
 jiāo to teach (the act) 教书 jiāoshū — to teach (as a job)
jiào education, religion 教育 jiàoyù — education
会
★
 huì can, will; a meeting 会说 huì shuō — can speak
kuài only in 会计 会计 kuàijì — accounting, accountant
发
★
 fā to send out, to issue, to develop 发现 fāxiàn — to discover
fà hair (on the head) 头发 tóufa — hair
只
★
 zhǐ only, merely 只有 zhǐyǒu — only, only if
zhī measure word for animals, one of a pair 一只猫 yì zhī māo — one cat
便
★
 biàn convenient; then 方便 fāngbiàn — convenient
pián only in 便宜 便宜 piányi — cheap
假
★
 jiǎ false, fake 假的 jiǎ de — fake
jià holiday, leave 放假 fàngjià — to have a holiday

Each character's readings share one row block. The example word is what actually fixes the sound.

More Everyday 多音字

Common enough to matter, usually met from HSK 3 onwards.

Character Reading What it means Example word Listen
中 zhōng middle, centre; China 中国 Zhōngguó — China
zhòng to hit (a target), to win 中奖 zhòngjiǎng — to win a prize
重 zhòng heavy; important 重要 zhòngyào — important
chóng again, to repeat 重新 chóngxīn — anew, again
少 shǎo few, little 很少 hěn shǎo — very few, rarely
shào young 少年 shàonián — youth, teenager
为 wèi for, for the sake of 为了 wèile — in order to
wéi to be, to act as, to do 认为 rènwéi — to think, to consider
数 shù number, figure 数学 shùxué — mathematics
shǔ to count 数一数 shǔ yi shǔ — count them up
干 gān dry 干净 gānjìng — clean
gàn to do, to work 干活 gànhuó — to work, to do a job
空 kōng empty; air, sky 空气 kōngqì — air
kòng free time, a gap 有空 yǒu kòng — to have free time
种 zhǒng kind, type; seed 一种 yì zhǒng — one kind of
zhòng to plant, to sow 种树 zhòng shù — to plant trees
相 xiāng mutually, each other 相信 xiāngxìn — to believe
xiàng appearance; photograph 照相 zhàoxiàng — to take a photo
血 xuè blood (formal, written, compounds) 血液 xuèyè — blood
xiě blood (colloquial speech) 流血 liúxiě — to bleed
参 cān to join, to participate; to consult 参加 cānjiā — to take part in
shēn ginseng 人参 rénshēn — ginseng
传 chuán to pass on, to spread 传统 chuántǒng — tradition
zhuàn biography, commentary 传记 zhuànjì — biography
处 chǔ to handle, to get along, to be situated 处理 chǔlǐ — to deal with
chù place, department 到处 dàochù — everywhere
当 dāng to be, to serve as; at the time of 当然 dāngrán — of course
dàng proper, suitable; to treat as 上当 shàngdàng — to be taken in
调 tiáo to adjust, to blend 调整 tiáozhěng — to adjust
diào to transfer; tone, melody 声调 shēngdiào — tone (of a syllable)
分 fēn to divide; minute; point 分钟 fēnzhōng — minute
fèn a share, a component 部分 bùfen — part, portion
更 gèng even more, still more 更好 gèng hǎo — even better
gēng to change, to replace 更新 gēngxīn — to update, to renew
号 hào number, date; name 号码 hàomǎ — number
háo to howl, to wail 号叫 háojiào — to howl
尽 jǐn to the greatest extent; despite 尽管 jǐnguǎn — even though, feel free to
jìn to exhaust, to use up 尽力 jìnlì — to do one's utmost
累 lèi tired 很累 hěn lèi — very tired
lěi to accumulate, to pile up 积累 jīlěi — to accumulate
难 nán difficult, hard 难过 nánguò — sad, to feel bad
nàn disaster, calamity 灾难 zāinàn — disaster
曲 qū bent, crooked 弯曲 wānqū — curved, winding
qǔ song, melody 歌曲 gēqǔ — song
兴 xīng to rise, to flourish 兴旺 xīngwàng — prosperous
xìng interest, excitement 高兴 gāoxìng — happy, glad
应 yīng ought to, should 应该 yīnggāi — should
yìng to respond, to answer 反应 fǎnyìng — reaction, response
藏 cáng to hide, to store 收藏 shōucáng — to collect
zàng storehouse; Tibet 西藏 Xīzàng — Tibet
朝 cháo dynasty; facing towards 朝代 cháodài — dynasty
zhāo morning 朝气 zhāoqì — youthful spirit, vigour
大 dà big, large 大学 dàxué — university
dài only in 大夫 大夫 dàifu — doctor
差 chà to fall short, poor, lacking 差不多 chàbuduō — almost, about the same
chā difference, discrepancy 差别 chābié — difference
chāi to send on an errand; a post 出差 chūchāi — to go on a business trip
着 zhe particle marking a continuing state 看着 kànzhe — watching, looking at
zháo to be affected by; to catch 着急 zháojí — to be anxious
zhuó to wear; to apply 穿着 chuānzhuó — dress, attire

Each character's readings share one row block. The example word is what actually fixes the sound.

When One Character Has Three Readings

A handful of very common characters carry three standard readings. These are the ones worth deliberate practice:

  • 得 — dé (to get, to obtain) in 得到 ; děi (must, have to) in 我得走了 ; de (particle linking a verb to how it is done) in 跑得快
  • 差 — chà (to fall short, poor, lacking) in 差不多 ; chā (difference, discrepancy) in 差别 ; chāi (to send on an errand; a post) in 出差
  • 着 — zhe (particle marking a continuing state) in 看着 ; zháo (to be affected by; to catch) in 着急 ; zhuó (to wear; to apply) in 穿着

Notice that 得 and 着 each have a toneless grammatical reading (de, zhe) alongside their full-tone lexical ones. That is a useful signal: when one of these characters is doing grammar rather than carrying meaning, it almost always goes neutral. 跑得快 (pǎo de kuài) and 看着 (kànzhe) are grammar; 得到 (dédào) and 着急 (zháojí) are vocabulary.

Practise these in context: run a sentence containing 银行 or 睡觉 through the Pinyin Translator to see the word-level reading, drill vocabulary as whole words with the HSK Flashcards, or test your ear on the Pinyin Listening Dictation game.

Frequently Asked Questions

A 多音字 (duōyīnzì, literally "many-sound character") is a Chinese character that has more than one standard pronunciation, usually with a different meaning attached to each. 行 is read xíng when it means "to go" or "OK", and háng when it means "row" or "trade" — which is why 银行 (bank) is yínháng, not yínxíng.

You do not read a polyphone character in isolation — you learn the word it sits in. The word fixes the reading: 银行 is always yínháng and 不行 is always bùxíng. This is why learning vocabulary as whole words rather than character by character matters, and why dictionaries list 多音字 under each reading separately.

Among everyday characters, 得, 着 and 差 each carry three common readings. 得 is dé (to obtain), děi (must) and the toneless particle de. 着 is the particle zhe, plus zháo in 着急 and zhuó in 穿着. Rarer characters in large dictionaries can have five or more readings, but they are not worth a beginner's time.

A few 多音字 are literary/colloquial doublets rather than meaning splits. 血 (blood) is xuè in written compounds like 血液 but xiě in casual speech like 流血. The meaning does not change — only the register does. Simplification also merged some originally distinct characters: 发 covers both 發 (to send out, fā) and 髮 (hair, fà).

Yes, if you type whole words. Typing yinhang gives you 银行 directly, because the input method matches the word rather than individual characters. Typing single syllables forces you to pick the character from a list, which is slower and more error-prone — another reason to type and learn in words. See How to Type Chinese Characters.

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