Definition

A word that sounds the same as another word or is spelled the same but has a different meaning.

Example

The word 'bat' is a homonym because it can mean a flying animal or a piece of sports equipment.

Conversation

I just learned about a new word called homonym in my English class.

Oh really? What does it mean?

It refers to words that sound the same but have different meanings, like 'bat' the animal and 'bat' used in baseball.

That's interesting! I never realized there were so many of those.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

Homonym → It is formed from "homo-" (from Greek "homos", meaning same) and "onym" (from Greek "onuma", meaning name). The word "homonym" refers to words that have the same name or spelling but different meanings.

Memory Tip

Think of 'same' ('homo-') and 'name' ('onym') to remember that a homonym is a word that shares the same name but has different meanings.

Visually Confused Words