Which term describes words like 'sea' and 'see'?

Which term describes words like 'sea' and 'see'?

• A. Homonym
• B. Homophone
• C. Homograph
• D. Hyponym

Answer: (B)

Words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings are homophones. Sea and see fit this because they are pronounced identically yet are spelled differently and carry different meanings. This distinguishes them from homographs, which are spelled the same but may have different meanings (and sometimes different pronunciations). Hyponym is about a semantic relationship where one word is a more specific kind of another, which isn’t about how the word sounds. So sea and see are homophones.

Words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings are homophones. Sea and see fit this because they are pronounced identically yet are spelled differently and carry different meanings. This distinguishes them from homographs, which are spelled the same but may have different meanings (and sometimes different pronunciations). Hyponym is about a semantic relationship where one word is a more specific kind of another, which isn’t about how the word sounds. So sea and see are homophones.