Table of Contents
- 1 Are words that sound the same but have different spellings and different meanings?
- 2 What has the same spelling but different meanings and perhaps different pronunciations?
- 3 Why do some words have multiple meanings?
- 4 What words have two different meanings?
- 5 Do same words have different pronunciations?
Are words that sound the same but have different spellings and different meanings?
A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning and/or spelling. “Flower” and “flour” are homophones because they are pronounced the same but you certainly can’t bake a cake using daffodils.
What has the same spelling but different meanings and perhaps different pronunciations?
Words that are spelt the same but are pronounced differently are called ‘homographs’. Words that sound the same but have different meanings are called ‘homonyms’ or ‘homophones’.
Why do some words have multiple meanings?
Words have many meanings because the language IS developed. As a language develops, new usages, meanings, subtleties and nuances arise.
What words sound the same but are spelled differently?
Two or more words that sound the same but are spelled differently are called homophones. (Homo- is the Greek root for “same,” and phon- is the Greek root for “sound,” so homophone means “same sound.”) These are words that can be confusing for writers.
What are words that sound the same but have different meanings?
HOMONYMS are words that sound alike but have different meanings. Homophones are a type of homonym that also sound alike and have different meanings, but have different spellings. HOMOGRAPHS are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings.
What words have two different meanings?
Homonyms are two words with the same name but different meanings. If they were two meanings for the same word, we would refer to them as something like polynotations. So train and train are two different words, not two meanings for the same word.
Do same words have different pronunciations?
There are many English words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently. Such words are called heteronyms (more loosely also homographs, but homographs can also be pronounced the same; they just mean different things). The widest class of heteronyms are words that change their meaning depending on where the stress is placed. In this article, we shall learn about heteronyms that are not of that kind.