Which of these refers to words that have different meanings but are pronounced or spelled the same?

In linguistics, homonyms, broadly defined, are words that are homographs (words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation) or homophones (words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of spelling), or both. For example, according to this definition, the words row (propel with oars) and row (a linear arrangement) are homonyms, as are the words see (vision) and sea (body of water).

Homonymy can lead to communicative conflicts and thus trigger lexical (onomasiological) change. This is known as 'homonymic conflict'.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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17 Comments

Brenda Mckevitt

I want to pare a pair of pears

Hernan Pons

Joanne Serin, these only sound the same, but may be spelled differently: sun/sun, red/read

mapiferuk

And this is why learning English as a foreign language becomes so maddening sometimes, the main rule seems to be there are no rules when it comes to pronunciation, there are so many exceptions to the main rules!

cfascher

Or, rather, homophones?

Char

Never learned that just what each word usage meant..

Joanne Serin

Christopher Neal Wigley, hpmophone means same sound, which is what tjese words are, as opposed yo homonyms,meaning same name. Homophone is more accurate.

Joanne Serin

Or homophones

Susan Lake-Harris

Sean Case, I agree - in written English, the different spellings ensure you recognise which word is the intended one. Sometimes, context alone isn't enough.