Language is weird. You’re sitting there, maybe staring at a half-finished song lyric or a greeting card that needs a punchline, and you realize you’re stuck. You need words that rhyme with calls, but your brain keeps looping back to the same three options. Walls. Balls. Falls. It’s frustrating.
Rhyming isn’t just about matching sounds at the end of a sentence; it’s about the texture of the words and how they sit in your mouth when you say them out loud. If you’re writing poetry, a "perfect rhyme" like halls works great. But if you’re trying to be a bit more nuanced, you might want something that hits different. Honestly, the English language is pretty generous with the "-all" sound, yet we usually get stuck in a rut using the most boring nouns possible.
Why Finding What Rhymes With Calls is Harder Than It Looks
Most people think rhyming is easy until they actually have to do it for a specific project. You’ve got the obvious candidates. Falls, halls, stalls, and walls. These are the bread and butter of the rhyming world. They’re monosyllabic. They’re punchy. They get the job done.
But here’s the thing: those words are overused. If you’re a songwriter, using "walls" to rhyme with "calls" is basically a trope at this point. It’s the "moon/june" of the modern era. To make your writing actually stand out, you have to look at multisyllabic words or slant rhymes that catch the listener off guard. Think about words like recalls or befalls. They carry more weight. They change the rhythm of the line.
I’ve spent a lot of time looking at phonetic patterns. The "awl" sound (represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɔːlz/) is heavy. It’s a back vowel. It feels long and resonant. That’s why these words often feel "big" or "spacious." Words like sprawls or scrawls don't just rhyme; they paint a visual picture of something messy or expansive.
The Heavy Hitters: Common Single-Syllable Rhymes
Let's look at the workhorses. These are the ones you'll find in every nursery rhyme and pop song.
Balls. Simple. Versatile. Can be used in sports contexts, or more metaphorical "nerve" contexts.
Dolls. A bit more niche. Usually implies something static or artificial.
Galls. This is a great word that people forget. It means to irritate or the bold impudence of someone. "It galls me that he never calls." See? That has teeth.
Mauls. High energy. Violent. Good for action-oriented writing.
Pauls. If you're writing about a group of guys named Paul, I guess.
Thralls. A bit archaic, but "in the thralls of passion" or "thralls of winter" adds a layer of sophistication that "walls" just can't touch.
Stepping Up to Multi-Syllable Rhymes
This is where you start to look like an expert. When you use a multi-syllable rhyme, you create a "feminine rhyme" or just a more complex cadence. It signals to the reader that you put in the effort.
Take install. Or rather, installs. It’s functional. It’s modern. It fits in a business or tech context.
What about appalls? It’s a strong verb. It carries emotional weight.
Then you have forestalls. This is a "smart" word. It means to prevent or obstruct by taking action ahead of time. It’s the kind of word that makes a lyric feel intentional rather than accidental.
Slant Rhymes: The Secret Weapon of Modern Songwriters
Sometimes, a perfect rhyme feels too "on the nose." It feels like a jingle. If you want to sound more like Taylor Swift or Kendrick Lamar, you lean into slant rhymes (also called near rhymes or half rhymes).
These are words that share a similar vowel sound but don't quite match the ending consonant perfectly. For calls, you might look at words like:
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- Cause
- Pause
- Laws
- Flaws
Wait. Do those actually rhyme? Technically, no. "Calls" has that distinct "L" sound. "Flaws" does not. But in the middle of a fast-moving verse, the human ear is incredibly forgiving. If you emphasize the "aw" sound and soften the "L," you can bridge the gap. Using flaws to rhyme with calls adds a layer of vulnerability. It’s less "nursery rhyme" and more "confessional poetry."
The Science of Phonetics and the "-all" Sound
If we look at how we actually produce these sounds, it's pretty fascinating. Linguists like Noam Chomsky or Steven Pinker might argue about the deep structure of language, but for our purposes, it's about the "liquid" consonant. The "L" is a liquid. It flows.
When you say calls, your tongue hits the alveolar ridge behind your teeth, but the air keeps moving around the sides. It’s a "wet" sound. Contrast that with a word like "cats." That’s a "plosive" ending. It stops dead. Because calls is a liquid ending, it lingers. This is why these rhymes are so popular in power ballads—the singer can hold that "L" sound almost indefinitely.
Contextual Rhyming: Choosing the Right Word for the Vibe
You can't just pick a word because it rhymes. It has to fit the "flavor" of the piece.
If you’re writing a business proposal or a formal report (though why you’d be rhyming there is anyone’s guess, maybe a retirement poem?), you want words like protocols or overhauls. These sound professional. They sound like they have a high GPA.
If you’re writing a gritty noir story, use brawls or sprawls. These words feel like a rainy alleyway in a city that’s seen too much.
If you’re writing something whimsical or for children, stick to halls and balls. They are tactile. Kids know what a ball is. They know what a hall is. Don't overcomplicate it with "forestalls" for a five-year-old. They’ll just look at you funny.
Why Google Loves Rhyme Lists (And Why They Usually Suck)
You’ve probably seen those massive sites that just list every single word that ends in "-alls." They’re basically just databases. They don't tell you how to use the words. They don't tell you that drawls is a great word for a character from the South, or that squalls is perfect for a sea-faring adventure.
The "human" element of finding what rhymes with calls is knowing the connotation. A word like enthralls suggests magic or deep fascination. You wouldn't use it to describe a trip to the grocery store unless you were being extremely sarcastic.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- The "Forced" Rhyme: This happens when you change the natural word order of a sentence just to make the rhyme work. "To the mall he went for calls." No. Nobody talks like that. It sounds like Yoda on a bad day.
- Ignoring the Plural: Remember that calls is plural (or a third-person singular verb). If you rhyme it with "wall" (singular), it’s a "broken rhyme." Sometimes it works, but usually, it just feels like you forgot a letter.
- Over-reliance on the "aw" sound: Not all "aw" sounds are created equal. "Dolls" in some American accents sounds more like "dahls," while in others, it’s a tight "dawls." You have to know your audience’s accent.
Practical Next Steps for Your Writing
If you're currently staring at a blank page trying to make calls work, stop looking at the list of words for a second. Think about the meaning of the line.
- Are you describing a physical space? Use walls, halls, or stalls.
- Are you describing a conflict? Use brawls, galls, or mauls.
- Are you describing a process? Use installs, overhauls, or recalls.
- Are you describing an emotion? Use appalls, enthralls, or thralls.
If you're writing a song, try recording yourself singing the line with a "filler" word first. Sometimes the rhythm is more important than the rhyme. Once you have the rhythm, you can go back and slot in one of these words.
Actually, here’s a pro tip: try a "hidden rhyme." Instead of putting the rhyming word at the end of the next line, put it in the middle of the next line. This is called internal rhyme. "He makes the calls / behind the walls of the city / looking for pity." It feels more sophisticated and less predictable.
Whatever you do, don't settle for the first word that comes to mind. The English language is huge. It’s messy. It’s full of weird little corners. Dive into those corners. Find the word that actually says what you want to say, rather than the one that just happens to sound like the word before it.
To really nail your project, take the word you've chosen and look up its etymology. You'll find that enthralls literally comes from the word for "slave"—meaning to be so captivated you are a slave to the thing you're looking at. That kind of depth is what separates a "content writer" from a real storyteller. Now, go back to your draft and swap out that boring "walls" for something that actually has a bit of soul.