Homonyms, homographs and homophones – what do these terms mean and how do they differ? Let’s find out.
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Many word forms in English have the same written form but different meanings and sometimes also different pronunciations. They often belong to different classes, but not necessarily. An example is the word WELL, which may be an adverb (you can do something well), a noun (a well with water) or an insert (like in Well, didn’t I tell you?). Such words are called HOMOGRAPHS.
There are also words that have different forms and/or meanings, but are pronounced in the same way, like for example the words TO, TOO and TWO. These are HOMOPHONES.
The term HOMONYM is a general term for both homographs and homophones.
Homographs
As far as homographs are concerned, there are two possibilities:
1) the words have the same written form and pronunciation, like for example the word LIKE, which may be:
– a verb (to like someone), or
– a noun (to give someone a like), or
– an adjective (= similar) or
– an adverb (like as not = probably, e.g. Like as not they will never find out.), or
– a preposition (to look like something), or
– a conjunction (= as if, e.g. He acts like he’s a teenager.), or
– an insert (He was, like, too old.)
By the way, there aren’t many words that are that versatile in English, but still English can boast much more homographs than many other languages anyway.
2) the words have the same written form but different pronunciations, like for example the word DESERT, which may be:
– a noun (an area of dry land), then it’s pronounced /ˈdɛzɚt/, or
– a verb (= to leave), then it’s pronounced /dɪˈzɚt/
Homophones
With homophones, there are two possibilities too:
1) the words have the same pronunciation and the same written form, but different meanings, like for example the word SAW, which may be:
– a verb (the past tense of the verb TO SEE), or
– a noun (a tool used for cutting)
2) the words have the same pronunciation, but different written forms and meanings, like for example the words NIGHT and KNIGHT, which mean THE TIME WHEN IT’S DARK and A KIND OF SOLDIER IN ANCIENT TIMES respectively.