Homograph Example

Homograph

Homographs are words with different pronunciation, meanings and origins but the same spelling. They are not to be confused with homonyms, homophones and heteronyms. In order to work out which pronunciation and which meaning is appropriate, you need to be aware of the context. Here are a few homographs and their meanings:

Examples:

accent - stress or emphasis/a manner of speaking or pronunciation influenced by the region in which one lives or grew up

1.       agape - wide open/a Greek word meaning “love”

2.       attribute - a characteristic or quality/to think of as belonging to or originating in some person, place or thing

3.       axes - the plural of ax or axe/the plural of axis

4.       bass - a deep voice or tone/a kind of fish

5.       bat - a piece of sporting equipment used in baseball/a winged animal associated with vampires

6.       bow - to bend at the waist/the front of a boat/a pair of tied loops

7.       buffet - to hit, punch or slap/a self-serve food bar

8.       bustier - an undergarment/more busty

9.       compact - small/to make small/a small case for holding makeup

10.    compound - to mix or combine/an enclosed area with a building or group of buildings inside

11.    content - happy or satisfied/all that is contained inside something

12.    contract - an agreement/to get, acquire or incur

13.    coordinates - brings into proper place or order/a set of numbers used to calculate position

14.    desert - a hot, arid region/to leave

15.    digest - a condensed version of some information/to change food in the stomach into a form that can be absorbed by the body

16.    discount - a reduction in price/to underestimate the significance of or give no credence to

17.    does - female deer (plural)/present, third person singular form of the verb “do”

18.    down - in a lower position/soft, furry feathers

19.    entrance - the place of entry/to bewitch, delight or enrapture

20.    evening - late afternoon/making more even

21.    fine - very good/sharp or keen/delicate or subtle/a sum of money paid to settle a matter

22.    frequent - occurring regularly/to visit a place with regularity

23.    incense - a substance that produces a pleasant odor when burned/to infuriate or make very angry

24.    lead - to go first with followers behind/a type of metal

25.    minute - 60 seconds or 1/60th of an hour/extremely small

26.    moped - acted sad or gloomy/a bicycle with a motor

27.    object - a thing you can see or touch/a goal/a noun that receives the action of a verb/to be opposed to

28.    proceeds - advances or continues on/the money or profit gained from some sale or venture

29.    produce - to create or make/fresh fruits and vegetables

30.    project - a plan or proposal/to throw or hurl forward/to cause a shadow or image to fall upon a surface

31.    putting - the present participle of put/the present participle of putt

32.    number - a numeral/to count/more numb

33.    refuse - waste or garbage/to reject or decline to accept

34.    row - a fight/to propel a boat forward using oars/a line

35.    second - 1/60th of a minute/after the first

36.    subject - under some authority or control/to bring under authority or control/to make liable or vulnerable/a topic/the noun in a sentence about which something is said in the predicate

37.    tear - to rip/a drop of water from the eye

38.    wind - to turn/moving air

39.    wound - turned/an injury