Homonym

Homonym is a group of words that share the same spelling or pronunciation (or both) but have different meanings.

The word “homonym” comes from Greek prefix homo- (“same”) and suffix -onym (“name”). Thus, it refers to two or more distinct words sharing the “same name”.

Examples in English:

• stalk - part of a plant
• stalk - to follow someone around
• the trio of words to, too and two
• bow – To bend forward at the waist in respect (e.g. “bow down”)
• bow – the front of the ship (e.g. “bow and stern”)
• bow – the weapon which fires arrows (e.g. “bow and arrow”)
• bow – a kind of tied ribbon (e.g. bow on a present, a bowtie)
• bow – to bend outward at the sides (e.g. a “bow-legged” cowboy)
• bough – a branch on a tree. (e.g. “when the bough breaks…”)

Similarly, a river bank, a savings bank, a bank of switches, and a bank shot in pool share only a common spelling and pronunciation, but not meaning.

Examples in French:

• vers, ver, verre, vert (poetry, worm, glass, green)
• mer, mère et maire (sea, mother, mayor)
• sang, cent, sans, sent (blood, one hundred, without, smells)

Examples in Russian:

• ключ (key) and ключ (spring)
• коса (braid), коса (cock-eye), коса (scythe)
• пол (sex), пол (floor)
• течь (leak), течь (to flow)

Examples in German:

• arm (poor), der Arm (arm)
• das Band (ribbon), der Band (volume (book)
• das Gehalt (salary) , der Gehalt (content)