25 Homonyms Examples for Writers
A homonym is one of two or more words that are pronounced the same but have different spellings and/or spelled the same but have different meanings. In this post, we share 25 homonyms examples for writers, including which ones are homophones, homographs, and/or both.
If you look up the definition of a homonym, you might find that it's a type of word that is also called either a homophone or homograph. But what does that mean?
A homonym is one of two or more words that are pronounced the same but have different spellings (homophone) and/or spelled the same but have different meanings (homograph). In other words, homonyms are wonderful building blocks for fun wordplay.
This post shares a few examples of homonyms. Each set of words is preceded by whether the homonyms are homographs and/or homophones. This is not an exhaustive list, but I hope it will help illustrate what a homonym is and get you started on your homonym trail (which is a homograph that can be a noun synonym for "path" and/or a verb meaning "to follow").
Enjoy!
25 Homonyms Examples for Writers
- Homograph: Attribute (characteristic) or attribute (credit someone or something)
- Homophone: Bolder (more bold) or boulder (more rock)
- Homograph and homophone: Can (able to) or can (metal container)
- Homophone: Cite (source), sight (vision), or site (location)
- Homograph: Close (near) or close (to shut)
- Homograph: Console (comfort) or console (video game unit)
- Homograph and homophone: Crane (bird) or crane (machine)
- Homophone: Creak (noise) or creek (small stream)
- Homograph and homophone: Fair (reasonable) and fair (festival)
- Homophone: Hole (opening) or whole (complete)
- Homograph: Lead (front) or lead (mineral)
- Homograph and homophone: Lean (thin) or lean (rest against something)
- Homograph and homophone: May (month) or may (might)
- Homograph: Minute (small) or minute (measurement of time)
- Homograph and homophone: Novel (new) or novel (book-length fiction)
- Homograph: Object (thing) or object (argue)
- Homophone: Peak (max height), peek (look), or pique (gets interest)
- Homograph and homophone: Pen (writing instrument) or pen (area for animals)
- Homophone: Rain (water from sky), reign (period of time), or rein (leather strap)
- Homograph and homophone: Saw (tool) or saw (past tense of "to see")
- Homophone: Stationary (stay in one spot) or stationery (paper and envelopes)
- Homograph: Tear (rip) or tear (crying)
- Homograph and homophone: Train (mode of transport) or train (exercise)
- Homograph: Wind (blows) or wind (to turn)
- Homophone: Yore (refers to past), you're (you are), or your (possessive you)
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Sometimes, the best way to improve your writing is to go back to basics, to revisit the things you should have been paying attention to in your high school English classes (we won’t tell!). Whether you’re writing freelance articles for publications, editing your novel draft, or trying to write more professional emails, the Writer’s Digest Guide to Better Writing offers more than 50 techniques, strategies, and grammar rules with practical, real-world examples to help improve your writing.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
