Examples of Homonyms. A simple example of a homonym is the word " pen .". This can mean both "a holding area for animals" and "a writing instrument.". Another example is " book ," which can mean "something to read" or "the act of making a reservation.". In both cases, the sound and spelling are the same, and only the definition changes.
Homonyms can be more confusing for young readers or people learning English as a second language, usually because they aren't yet familiar with alternate definitions of a word, but our list of common homonyms will help you learn the differences.
Homonyms have characteristics of both homophones and homographs. As mentioned, they are words that are spelled alike (like homographs) and sound the same (akin homophones). Homonyms are a special case, and they are best thought of as the center portion of a Venn diagram that shows the overlap between homophones in one half and homographs in the other. A few more examples of homonyms include: 1 bear - an animal or to withstand something 2 can - a metal container or the ability to do something
Pole - a person from Poland / a piece of metal that holds a flag. Quarry - a site for mining stone / to extract or obtain slowly. Ring - a band on a finger / something circular in shape. Stalk - a part of a plant / to follow or harass someone.
Ring - a band on a finger / something circular in shape. Right - correct / direction opposite of left. Rock - a genre of music / a stone. Rose - to have gotten up / a flower. Spring - a season / coiled metal. Stalk - a part of a plant / to follow or harass someone. Tender - gentle / offer of money.
Homographs. Homographs are words that are spelled the same, as indicated by the suffix "- graph ," which means writing. Homographs have the same spelling but different meanings and usually different pronunciation. For example, consider the words "tear" and "tear.". Tear can mean drops of water from the eyes; on the other hand, ...
While homophones are likely to get you in trouble when it comes to spelling - as anyone who's ever mixed up "accept" and "except" can attest - homonyms are more of an issue when you're quickly skimming something.
b grammar : homograph The words lead, as in the metal, and lead, as in the verb, are homonyms.
Homonym can be troublesome because it may refer to three distinct classes of words. Homonyms may be words with identical pronunciations but different spellings and meanings, such as to, too, and two.
What made you want to look up homonym? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
In English, a homonym is a word that sounds the same as another word but differs in meaning.
Words that sound the same but have different meaning and are spelled differently (homophones)
Homonyms can refer to homophones (words that are pronounced the same as other words but differ in meaning and are spelled differently).