Homonyms

Homonyms are words that share a form in written or spoken language but have different meanings. The term is used inconsistently in linguistics: some sources apply it only to words that are pronounced the same or only to words that are spelled the same, while others use homonym as an umbrella category for both situations.

Two common subtypes are homophones and homographs. Homophones have identical pronunciations but different spellings and meanings, as in sea and see. Homographs share spelling but have different meanings, and their pronunciation may be the same or different; when the pronunciation differs, they are called heteronyms, as with lead (to guide) and lead (the metal).

Examples illustrate the range. Bank (financial institution) and bank (riverbank) constitute a pair of homonyms in everyday usage, sharing both spelling and pronunciation but differing in meaning. Bat (an animal) and bat (a sports implement) are another common pair. Knight and night are a classic pair of homophones. Lead (to guide) and lead (the metal) are heteronyms, a special case of homographs with different pronunciations.

In practice, recognizing homonyms supports language learning, spelling, and vocabulary development. In natural language processing, distinguishing between meanings requires word sense disambiguation to resolve ambiguity in context.

The term originates from Greek homo- meaning "same" and onoma meaning "name." The concept has been a longstanding topic in lexicography and linguistic study, contributing to debates about how to classify words that intersect in form but diverge in meaning.