Definition : Two words that differ only in one phoneme are called minimal pairs.
Examples : bin-been, /bɪn bi:n/, taint-paint /teɪnt peɪnt/, bill-pill /bɪl pɪl/ are all minimal pairs.
Extra information : Minimal pairs can be used in the classroom to help students distinguish between and produce phonemes which they have difficulty with. See here for some teaching ideas: Developing Bottom-Up Decoding Skills for Listening
