HOMONYMS and HOMOPHONES
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Homonymsย are words that sound alike, have the same spelling, but different meaning.
Example:
fairย (reasonable) The judge was very fairย when he made the decision.
fairย (county fair) We loved going to a countyย fairย when we were kids.
Homophonesย are a type ofย homonym.ย Homophonesย are words that sound alike, have different meaning and different spelling.
Example:
pearย (fruit) I used to eat aย pearย every day.
pairย (couple) I need to buy a newย pairย of shoes.
HOMOGRAPHS and HETERONYMS
Homographsย are words that are spelled the same, but have different meaning.
Example:
bowย หbauฬ ( to bend at the waist) He need toย bowย before the Queen.
bowย หbล (shoots arrows) He used hisย bowย to shoot all the soldiers.
A homograph that is also pronounced differently is aย heteronym. We can say thatย bowย is also aย heteronym.
One more time:
Heteronymsย are a type ofย homograph.ย Heteronymsย are words that are spelled the same, but have different pronunciation.
So, what is the difference betweenย homographsย andย heteronyms?
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Allย heteronymsย are homographs, but not allย homographsย are heteronyms.
Then, what is the difference betweenย homographย andย homonym?
Well,ย homographsย that are spelled the same, and have the same pronunciation are automatically calledย homonyms.
Still confused?
Letโs try to remember it the simple way:
Homonyms: spelled the same โ sound the same (can โ can)
Homophones: same sound โ different spelling (week โ weak)
Homographs: spelled the same โ different sound (wind โ wind)
