Homophone

A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word but has a different meaning and/or spelling. Homophones can be a source of confusion in both writing and speech, particularly in languages like English that have irregular spelling patterns. Understanding the context in which a word is used is crucial for determining its correct meaning when dealing with homophones.

Homophones differ from homographs and homonyms. Homographs are words that share the same spelling but have different meanings and potentially different pronunciations (e.g., "lead" - the metal and "lead" - to guide). Homonyms are words that share both the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings (e.g., "bank" - a financial institution and "bank" - the side of a river). While some words may be both homophones and homographs (making them homonyms), not all homophones share the same spelling.

The existence of homophones is often a result of historical linguistic changes, such as the merging of distinct sounds over time, or the divergence of spellings while pronunciation remained consistent.