homonymy,homograp

homonymy

A homonym is a word that is said or spelled the same way as another word but has a different meaning. "Write” and “right” is a good example of a pair of homonyms

Homonym traces back to the Greek words homos, meaning “same,” andonuma, meaning “name.” So a homonym is sort of like two people who have the same name: called the same thing but different. A homonym can be a word that sounds the same as something else — like by (“near”) and buy (“purchase”) — or it can be spelled exactly the same way and pronounced differently — like minute(unit of time) and minute (“tiny”).

homograp

Use the noun homograph to talk about two words that are spelled the same but have different meanings and are pronounced differently — like "sow," meaning female pig, and "sow," to plant seeds.

The word homograph merges homos, the Greek word for "same," with graph, "to write." If two words are written identically but don't share a meaning, they are homographs. Some examples are close ("to shut") and close("nearby"); and bass ("deep") and bass("the fish"). Homographs are confusing at first glance, but once you read them in the context of a sentence or hear them spoken aloud, you'll easily figure out which word is intended.

homophone

A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning and/or spelling. “Flower” and “flour” are homophonesbecause they are pronounced the same but you certainly can’t bake a cake using daffodils.

Other common homophones are writeand right, meet and meat, peace andpiece. You have to listen to the context to know which word someone means if they’re spoken aloud. If they say they like your jeans (genes?), they’re probably talking about your pants and not your height and eye color — but you’d have to figure it out from the situation!

This word set can be confusing, even for word geeks. Let's start with the basics. A homograph is a word that has the same spelling as another word but has a different sound and a different meaning:

lead (to go in front of)/lead (a metal)

wind (to follow a course that is not straight)/wind (a gust of air)

bass (low, deep sound)/bass (a type of fish)

A homophone is a word that has the same sound as another word but is spelled differently and has a different meaning:

to/two/too

there/their/they're

pray/prey

Not so bad, right? The ending –graph means drawn or written, so a homograph has the same spelling. The –phone ending means sound or voice, so a homophone has the same pronunciation. But here's where it gets tricky. Depending on whom you talk to, homonym means either:

A word that is spelled like another but has a different sound and meaning (homograph); a word that sounds like another but has a different spelling and meaning (homophone)

OR

A word that is spelled and pronounced like another but has a different meaning (homograph and homophone)

So does a homonym have to be both a homograph and a homophone, or can it be just one or the other? As with most things in life, it depends on whom you ask.

In the strictest sense, a homonym must be both a homograph and a homophone. So say many dictionaries. However, other dictionaries allow that a homonym can be a homograph or a homophone.

With so many notable resources pointing to the contrary, are we losing this strict meaning? What then will we call a word that is spelled and pronounced the same as another but has a different meaning? If homonym retains all these meanings, how will readers know what is actually meant?

The careful writer would do well to follow the strict sense, ensuring his meaning is understood immediately.

Homonyms, homophones and homographs can bring confusion to even adults and teachers! VocabularySpellingCity can help anyone master these word groups. For clarity, we've brought them all together on one page. It makes it easier to learn the difference among the three types of words using the definitions and homonyms, homophones and homographs examples below.

Homonyms

Homonyms, or multiple meaning words, are words that share the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings. For example, bear.

• A bear (the animal) can bear (tolerate) very cold temperatures.


• The driver turned left (opposite of right) and left (departed from) the main road.

Homophones, also known as sound-alike words, are words that are pronounced identically although they have different meanings and often have different spellings as well. These words are a very common source of confusion when writing. Common examples of sets of homophones include: to, too, and two; they're and their; bee and be; sun and son; which and witch; and plain and plane. VocabularySpellingCity is a particularly useful tool for learning to correctly use and spell the soundalike words.

Homographs

Homographs are words that are spelled the same, but have different meanings and are often pronounced differently as well. Some examples of homographs are:

• bass as in fish vs bass as in music


• bow as in arrow vs bow as in bending or taking a bow at the end of a performance


• close as in next to vs close as in shut the door


• desert as in dry climate vs desert as in leaving alone.

Currently, VocabularySpellingCity cannot distinguish between homographs, as we are unable to have two pronounciations for the exact same word. We are looking for possibilities in the future.

Homonyms Homophones Homographs Multiple meaning words Words that sound alike Same spelling, different pronunciation, different meanings  the spruce tree...  to spruce up...  addition for math  edition of a book  desert = abandon  desert = area of land  suit yourself...  wore a suit...  I want to go  I like it too  One plus one is two  bass = fish  bass = instrument  weigh on the scale...  scale the wall...  capitol building  state capital  close = nearby  close = to shut  the price is fair...  go to the fair...  pick a flower  bake with flour  bow = to bend down  bow = ribbon

https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/homonym-homophone-homograph/