homophone

[ hom-uh-fohn, hoh-muh- ]

noun

1. Phonetics. a word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning, whether spelled the same way or not, as heir and air.
2. a written element that represents the same spoken unit as another, as ks, a homophone of x in English.

homophone

/ ˈhɒməˌfəʊn /

noun

1. one of a group of words pronounced in the same way but differing in meaning or spelling or both, as for example bear and bare
2. a written letter or combination of letters that represents the same speech sound as another

   ``ph'' is a homophone of ``f'' in English

Word History and Origins

Origin of homophone¹

First recorded in 1615–25; back formation from homophonous

Synonym Study

See homonym.

Example Sentences

Chin up, Donald, a lot of people get tripped up when using homophones.

From Everything After Z

More About Homophone

What is a homophone?

A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning, whether it’s spelled the same or not. There, their, and they’re are homophones. But so are bark (the sound a dog makes) and bark (the covering of a tree).

These two senses of bark can also be considered homographs. You can learn more about the difference in the next section.

As long as a word has the same pronunciation as another word but a different meaning, it’s a homophone of that word.

There are thousands of homophones in English, including many commonly used words, and their identical pronunciations make it so they’re often confusing, even for native speakers. Autocorrect may not recognize an incorrectly used homophone when it’s technically spelled correctly, so you just have to be aware of them as best you can.

What's the difference between homophone, homograph, and homonym?

There is a helpful way to tell the difference betweenthe words homophone, homograph, and homonym: knowing what their endings mean can help you remember how they’re used.

Homophone, homonym, and homograph all start with homo-, which means “same.”

The -phone in homophone means “sound.” So homophones are words that sound the same. Homophones always have different meanings, but they may be spelled the same or differently. Bear (the animal) and bare (meaning “uncovered” or “empty”) are homophones. So are bear (the animal) and bear (the verb meaning “to carry”).

The -graph in homograph means “written.” Homographs are words that are written the same—meaning they always have the same spelling—but have different meanings. Homographs can be pronounced the same or not. For example, bass (the fish, rhymes with class) and bass (the instrument, rhymes with ace) are homographs. So are bear (the animal) and bear (the verb meaning “to carry”).

As you can see, the two senses of bear can be considered both homophones and homographs. When words are both homographs and homophones—meaning they have both the same spelling and the same pronunciation, but different meanings—they can be called homonyms.

The –nym in homonym means “name.” The word homonym can also be used as a synonym (there’s that –nym again) for either homophone or homograph.

Overall, knowing what the word homophone means is a lot less important than making sure you use homophones properly so people can understand what you mean.

Did you know ... ?

Sometimes, whether two words are homophones depends on how people pronounce them. For example, the word aunt may or may not be a homophone of the word ant depending on how the speaker says aunt.

What are real-life examples of homophones?

Homophones are often a source of confusion, especially when it comes to choosing the correct spelling of common words like your/you’re, it’s/its, and to/too/two.

I get way too annoyed when I see people messing up homophones. But in my defense, like.. how are you an adult and not know the difference between whine and wine???

— Obi Chikezie 🇳🇬 (@ob_chikez24) August 3, 2020

"Their", "There" and "They're" – the most misused homophones.

— Wale Adetona (@iSlimfit) February 19, 2017

 

What other words are related to homophone?

• homonym
• homograph
• pronunciation
• sound
• spelling
• meaning

Quiz yourself!

Which of the following word pairs are homophones?

A. creek and creak
B. toe and tow
C. threw and through
D. all of the above