# Words spelled & pronounced exactly like, but different meanings **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 20, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258 "2006-10-20T18:07:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Taber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ac91a4/32.png) [@Taber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taber)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/21 "2006-10-22T00:40:25Z")
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. (with thanks to Jayrot) ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/22 "2006-10-22T02:20:11Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown] ::checking Wikipedia::However, that would be a _homophone_. [/QUOTE] And I thought that was someone that is afraid of words that sound the same with different lifestyles. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/23 "2006-10-22T04:46:37Z")
Dags (really dorky people) and dags (the encrusted poo on the tails of sheep/cows etc) Book (the thing with words that you read) and book (to pre-allocate a place at the concert) and book (to apprehend a person breaking the law). BTW, **MaxTheVool** spring also means a trickle of water that emanates out of the ground. Quick either means fast or the nail cuticle. A magazine can be a publication or a store of ammunition. Divers (the plural of people who go scuba diving) and is also a traditional spelling for divers(e). ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/24 "2006-10-22T05:20:47Z")
There’s also mean (as to imply something) and mean (as in being stingy) and mean (as per the statistical average). ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/25 "2006-10-22T05:30:50Z")
[QUOTE=kambuckta] Book (the thing with words that you read) and book (to pre-allocate a place at the concert) and book (to apprehend a person breaking the law). A magazine can be a publication or a store of ammunition. [/QUOTE] But those three meanings of book are all basically the same - if you book a seat on an airplane, it just means they write your name in a book - the same as when the fuzz book you for speeding. It’s the same with magazine - the word for publication is just an adaption of the word for the powder store. How about “brook” - a small stream or to tolerate mm ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/26 "2006-10-22T18:57:30Z")
Maroon as in to leave someone on an island and maroon as in a dark shade of red. Can as in what beer comes in, and can as in “able to”. I suppose there’s also can as in to fire someone, but that’s probably related to trash can. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/27 "2006-10-23T01:02:16Z")
Fuck. I’m just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/28 "2006-10-23T16:00:12Z")
[QUOTE=MaxTheVool] … For instance, “spring” the season and “spring” the coiled wire are different enough concepts that you basically always know from the context which meaning is being referred to, so it’s easy to not even notice that the words are the same. … [/QUOTE] Twice a year, some television news person will talk about Daylight Saving Time, and she’ll say, “Remember, it’s spring ahead and fall back.” That compresses double meanings into spring and fall. However, “spring a head” also means “make a bobble-head doll.” [http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2220095&cp=1452625](http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2220095&cp=1452625) ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/29 "2006-10-23T16:09:26Z")
Right Fly ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/30 "2006-10-23T17:19:54Z")
HomoNYM. Two words with shared spelling and pronunciation. As the OP pointed out, Rose and Rose. HomoGRAPH. Two words which share spelling, but not pronunciation POLISH the POLISH furniture. The SECONDED the SECOND lieutenant to the Navy. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/31 "2006-10-23T17:21:52Z")
Light Tissue And probably thousands upon thousands of others. I often wondered how the exact same word could come to have such different meanings. A subset of these are the ones that are pronounced differently depending on context: He read the book yesterday. She will read the book tomorrow. I need to polish the silverware. She is from Poland and therefore is Polish. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/32 "2006-10-23T17:52:34Z")
What’s the opposite of light? Dark? No, heavy. What’s the opposite of right? Left? No, wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/33 "2006-10-23T18:49:42Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] That reminds me of one of my favorite lines from The Simpsons. Dr. Nick (after burning down his surgery): Inflammable means flammable? What a country! [/QUOTE] On Internet, posters flame YOU! ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2006, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/34 "2006-10-23T19:16:25Z")
Lead. He lead the platoon Lead. Used to make fishing weights. Always confuses me. You just don’t know until you read the complete sentence. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/35 "2006-10-24T00:26:48Z")
[QUOTE=Jake] Lead. He lead the platoon Lead. Used to make fishing weights. Always confuses me. You just don’t know until you read the complete sentence. [/QUOTE] No, he led the platoon. I’ve always wondered how English teachers explain to foreigners that “read” can be pronounced either “reed” or “red” depending on the tense, but “lead” and “led” change spelling, and that there are also words “reed”, “red”, and “lead” that aren’t related. I suppose it comes after explaining why “do”, “due”, “dew”, “new”, “to”, “too”, “two”, “goo”, “sue” all rhyme and “doe”, “know”, “toe”, “sew”, “so” all rhyme. Such a silly language. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/36 "2006-10-24T04:21:22Z")
Burn: to undergo rapid combustion, or a brook. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/37 "2006-10-24T19:57:14Z")
[QUOTE=MaxTheVool] I wonder what the longest/most-polysyballic homonyms are? [/QUOTE] A contender would be [_bunting_](http://www.answers.com/bunting&r=67): 1. Cloth used for flags – likely from a German word for “colored” 2. a type of bird – from Middle English 3. a hooded sleeping bag for infants-- perhaps from a Scottish word for “plump” or “short” as well as 1. hitting a baseball so as to deaden it and thus prevent it from being fielded quickly (from a dialectal term meaning [“to push or strike”](http://www.bartleby.com/61/32/B0553200.html)) ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2006, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258/38 "2006-10-24T22:41:10Z")
**moot** : Open to discussion or debate Of little or no practical value or meaning Not actual; theoretical; hypothetical To present or introduce for discussion To reduce or remove the practical significance of (and other obsolete menaings) _Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary_ john can rush [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-spelled-pronounced-exactly-like-but-different-meanings/377258.md?page=1)