James Baquet

    Lily is chatting with her classmate Becky in the common room of their dorm.

    Lily: Hi, Becky. Got a minute?

    Becky: Sure! What’s up?

    Lily: I was wondering if you could tell me what a homonym is.

    Becky: Well, that depends.

    Lily: On what, exactly?

    Becky: Here’s the thing: We use the term rather loosely, to describe a number of different phenomena. So let’s start with those first.

    Lily: Okay.

    Becky: The first is a homophone. Do you know what “homo-” means here?

    Lily: Yes, it means “the same as.”

    Becky: Good!

    Lily: All the people in my English class are from China, so my teacher says the class is “homogeneous.”

    Becky: That’s right! Do you know the opposite word?

    Lily: Yes, he taught us that, too. It’s “heterogeneous.”

    Becky: Good. “Homo-” and “hetero-” mean “the same as” and “different from,” respectively.

    Lily: Okay. And you said “homophone.” I know “phone” means “sound.”

    Becky: Exactly! “Telephone” means “far sound,” “phonograph” means “sound writing,” and so on.

    Lily: Got it. Then, “homophone” means “having the same sound.” I guess that would be words like “to, too, and two,” right?

    Becky: Right. Or “grate” and “great,” “nay” and “neigh,” and so on.

    Lily: Is that a homonym?

    Becky: That’s one kind of homonym. The other is a homograph.

    Lily: Since “graph” means “writing,” homographs are words that are spelled the same?

    Becky: Excellent! “Lead” rhyming with “speed” means to have someone follow you; but “lead” rhyming with “bed” is a type of metal.

    Lily: Do homographs have to have different pronunciations?

    Becky: No, but they sometimes do. And they always have different meanings.

    Lily: Of course! Otherwise they’d just be the same word!

    Becky: Right. Similar words that are different parts of speech can also be considered homographs.

    Lily: For example?

    Becky: The noun “fish” and the verb “fish.” One is a thing, the other an action — like to “go fishing” — so technically they have different meanings but the same spelling.

    Lily: Got it. I guess homophones and homographs are both kinds of homonyms?

    Becky: That’s right!

    Lily: Homonyms are interesting. But are they useful for anything?

    Becky: Sure! For example, they’re often used in jokes.

    Lily: Like what?

    Becky: Last week, a humor magazine wrote that an elderly actress, Betty White, had “dyed peacefully at home.”

    Lily: And?

    Becky: It turned out she had just changed her hair color!