Do both words look correct to you? That’s because they are. 
It’ s all about correct word usage—knowing which word to use when. Don’t write payed when you mean paid, and vice versa.
In most cases, paid will be the word you need. Payed has an extremely limited usage (and it doesn’t have anything to do with spending money).
- Paid is the past tense and past participle of pay and refers to making a transaction or giving something of value (typically—but not necessarily—money) in return for something. Paid also refers to visiting.
Examples:
I paid my taxes today.
I paid a visit to my best friend.
- Payed has long been used in a nautical context
and relates to ships or ropes, chains, cables, cords, etc. Payed refers to letting something out with slack. It also refers to sealing a ship to avoid leaking.
Examples:
The sailor payed out rope.
The sailor payed the deck with tar.
Understandably, interchanging paid and payed is an easy mistake to make—one that tends to slip by some writers. As a proofreader, I’m aware of many commonly misused words, so I keep a sharp lookout for them.
Correcting word usage is just one of the many important proofreading details I get paid (not payed) for.
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Tags: Christian fiction proofreaders, Christian novel proofreaders, Christian proofreaders, Christian proofreading, correct word usage, homophones, paid or payed, paid vs payed