Karen, such a Midwesterner I am! Hawk (bird) and hock (joint) don't sound the same around here. Hawk rhymes with talk, and hock with lock.

I always had trouble with the word accommodate (two c's? two m's? one of each?) till a friend who's a teacher pointed out that the first two consonants in the word come in a pair. At 40 I still get stuck on curiosity (or is it curiousity?).