There are some spelling differences in American English. In the 1800's, the US Congress actually called for several changes to make words more phonetic. Look at the following examples:

 

British English

American English

Example (British - American)

1

words ending in -re

change to -er

centre - center
metre - meter

2

words ending in -our

change to -or

colour - color

3

words ending in -ogue

change to -og

catalogue - catalog

4

words ending in -ise/ize

ending only in -ize

realise/realize - realize

5

final -l doubled after short vowel

- l not always doubled after a short vowel

travelled - traveled
modelling - modeling

6

words ending in -ence

change to -ense

defence - defense
licence - license

Look at the followings lists for words which have different meanings in British and American English: