Homonyms are words that are spelled the same or sound the same but have different meanings. For example, a ruler can mean either a stick used for measurement or the leader of a country.
Homonyms can be very confusing for people learning the English language. There is no quick rule or trick to homonyms. You just have to memorize them. Start with the most common homonyms if you are new to English.
Homographs and HomophonesHomophones and homographs are specific types of homonyms. A homophone is a word that has the same pronunciation but different meanings, such as to and two or ate and eight. A homograph is a word that is spelled the same but has different meanings, such as bat, sink and wave.
Homonym Examples
- Fall: Fall is a season but you can fall off your bike.
- Fish: You can fish at a lake or you can eat a fish.
- Fly: You can fly a kite but a fly is an annoying insect.
- Fore and Four: You shout fore as a warning in golf. Fore sounds the same as the pronunciation of the number four.
- Hand: People have hands at the ends of their arms. You can help someone out by giving them a hand.
- Meat and Meet: You can meet a person but you eat meat.
- Park: You park your car but you visit a park.
- Pool: You can jump in a pool or you can pool your resources.
- Saw: We saw the man saw down the branch.
- Spring: You can spring into action or you can enjoy the warmer spring weather.
- Tie: You tie a tie that you wear with your suit.
More Homonym Examples
Here are some great resources that list many homonym examples.
