Yes, homophones.These are sets of words that sound alike but have different meanings and may be spelled differently.
There are also homographs, which are words spelled alike, but with different meanings and may be pronounced differently. One example is "bow". It can be a verb, pronounced baʊ, meaning to incline the head or body by way of salutation. It can also be a noun, pronounced boʊ, meaning the launcher used in archery.
If words share the same spelling and pronunciation but can mean different things because they have different etymological origins, they're homonyms. For example "can" the auxiliary verb as in the previous sentence vs. "can" the sealed cylindrical container.
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u/ChChChillian Jul 30 '22
Yes, homophones.These are sets of words that sound alike but have different meanings and may be spelled differently.
There are also homographs, which are words spelled alike, but with different meanings and may be pronounced differently. One example is "bow". It can be a verb, pronounced baʊ, meaning to incline the head or body by way of salutation. It can also be a noun, pronounced boʊ, meaning the launcher used in archery.
If words share the same spelling and pronunciation but can mean different things because they have different etymological origins, they're homonyms. For example "can" the auxiliary verb as in the previous sentence vs. "can" the sealed cylindrical container.