The word homograph drives from two Greek words meaning "same" and "writing." Homographs are pairs or groups of words which have the same spelling, but a different pronunciation and, usually, meaning.
Some examples of homographs are:
read - the present tense is pronounced REED, the past is RED.
bow - the main part of a bow tie is pronounced BO, while a polite greeting where you bend forward (eg in Japan) is pronounced BOW to rhyme with now.)
refuse - the verb, meaning "to say no" is pronounced reFUSE, while the noun, meaning rubbish or garbage, is REF-use.
There are lots of other examples - in fact homographs are so common that they are often used as the basis of verbal jokes.
A homograph shouldn't be confused with a homophone (eg see/ sea or I/ eye) where two words have the same sound but different spelling and meaning, or a homonym, where they have identical pelling and sound, but different meanings (eg bank.)
Some examples of homographs are:
read - the present tense is pronounced REED, the past is RED.
bow - the main part of a bow tie is pronounced BO, while a polite greeting where you bend forward (eg in Japan) is pronounced BOW to rhyme with now.)
refuse - the verb, meaning "to say no" is pronounced reFUSE, while the noun, meaning rubbish or garbage, is REF-use.
There are lots of other examples - in fact homographs are so common that they are often used as the basis of verbal jokes.
A homograph shouldn't be confused with a homophone (eg see/ sea or I/ eye) where two words have the same sound but different spelling and meaning, or a homonym, where they have identical pelling and sound, but different meanings (eg bank.)
