Hear it, then pick the character
Played 2×
zhōng
One syllable, four look-alikes.
You picked 申. zhōng is 中 — the one with nothing across the middle.
A
中
zhōng
middle
Clear
B
申
shēn
to state
Fix
C
由
yóu
from
D
甲
jiǎ
first
The difference, drawn
One stroke
中 zhōng — the box is sealed. The dotted line is what is not there.
申 shēn — one bar straight across the middle. That bar is the whole difference.
由 and 甲 break the box on one side only — the stroke leaves the top, or the bottom, never both.