# Words with most homophones? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2011, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376 "2011-07-26T12:49:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BDoors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BDoors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDoors)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/41 "2011-07-27T23:04:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Are we counting words with the same spelling but separate origins as “homophones”? People can post whatever they like of course, but I was really after homophones that are spelt differently, i.e. heterographs. However, any words with the same sound but different meanings are homophones, regardless of whether they’re spelt the same. I don’t think contractions such as “they’re” count, because they are not single words. Acronyms are a grey area, because some of them have become legitimate words. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/42 "2011-07-28T00:39:08Z")
> [@Oglomott](#): > > I admit I had no idea that such a map existed, or that anyone is keeping track of something like that. FWIW, I’m from an area outside where pin and pen are pronounced the same, although I still pronounce them the same. I can’t think of the proper way to ask this questions, but I’ll try. I can’t recall hearing anyone pronounce pen and pin in the same way. Would your pronunciation of both match the way I say pin, the way I say pen, or something else? ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/43 "2011-07-28T02:15:47Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > I can’t recall hearing anyone pronounce pen and pin in the same way. Would your pronunciation of both match the way I say pin, the way I say pen, or something else? How do you pronounce those words? I live in east Texas. Both words are pronounced the same. They rhyme with _tin_, _sin_, and _kin_. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/44 "2011-07-28T04:33:50Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > If we are, head for the hills, because I’ve been reading Finnegans Wake for 30 years. I think I could dig up a few…😉 :smack: This was an assholish post. I apologize. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/45 "2011-07-28T07:28:02Z")
bore - as with al gore bore - as with a drill bore - meaning gun caliber bore - meaning tidal bore bore - as with mother mary with jesus bore - down with a truck bore - frodo with the ring boar - male pig? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/46 "2011-07-28T08:08:12Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Bo > Bow > Bough > Beau In what dialect is “bough” homophonous with any of the others (besides “bow” in, for example, the nautical sense)? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/47 "2011-07-28T08:09:59Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > bore - as with al gore > bore - as with a drill > bore - meaning gun caliber > bore - meaning tidal bore > bore - as with mother mary with jesus > bore - down with a truck > bore - frodo with the ring I thought we were discussing homophony, not polysemy. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/48 "2011-07-28T08:15:52Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Eau > O > Oh > Owe Add “eaux” to the list and this set is in second place, behind air/err/heir/aire/are/ere/e’er/Eyre/Eire (plus hair/hare/hayer for h-dropping dialects), which are certainly homophonous in many dialects. I don’t think anyone’s going to beat that one. > [@Chefguy](#): > > I believe “err” is pronounced more like “ur”, is it not? Maybe for you, but not for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/49 "2011-07-28T08:17:54Z")
the OP wasn’t very accrurate about that, i think. “different spellings AND meanings.” ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/50 "2011-07-28T08:34:04Z")
Not where I’m from but in some places: Cocks Corks Caulks Cox ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/51 "2011-07-28T09:16:09Z")
I hope it’s not egregious hijack to mention that Thai has many homophones to the untrained foreigner ear. The words for near and far sound the same to me! :smack: _Noi_ may be the most common woman’s nickname, but for many years I didn’t realize that there were two different Noi’s, distinguishable to a Thai ear. The sound “cow” ( **khau** ) has several common meanings (enter, him/her, rice, white, mountain, horn, bank), some distinguishable to a Thai ear but not always my ear. White mountain (“cow cow” or **khau khaau** ) involves a duration difference I don’t hear, though I can see a mouth-shape difference! ---
**Author:** ![BDoors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BDoors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BDoors)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/52 "2011-07-28T09:47:03Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > the OP wasn’t very accrurate about that, i think. “different spellings AND meanings.” Eh? All the words in your list are spelt the same. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/53 "2011-07-28T10:18:33Z")
ok, i’m wrong. fun though. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/54 "2011-07-28T10:25:27Z")
If you allow words that have the same spelling, i could just use [set](http://puzzles.about.com/library/weekly/blmosdef.htm). It has 464 definitions, and even if you don’t count all of them as separate words, you still have quite a few. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/55 "2011-07-28T10:33:44Z")
^ hey, i remember that from the guiness book back in the 80s. good one. ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/56 "2011-07-28T14:32:18Z")
> [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](#): > > How do you pronounce those words? > > I live in east Texas. Both words are pronounced the same. They rhyme with _tin_, _sin_, and _kin_. If you’re not in the south, pen and pin have the same vowel sounds as bed and bid, respectively. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/57 "2011-07-28T16:29:09Z")
Quoth **marc\_bolan00** : > [@](#): > > bore - as with al gore > bore - as with a drill > bore - meaning gun caliber > bore - meaning tidal bore > bore - as with mother mary with jesus > bore - down with a truck > bore - frodo with the ring > boar - male pig? Several of these are the same meaning, even. A tidal bore is the same bore as a gun bore, which I think is directly derived from drill. And Mary carried Jesus just as Frodo carried the Ring-- She carried him in a different place, but it’s still carrying. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/58 "2011-07-28T21:42:54Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Few. 😃 To be specific, Glaswegian seems to be one, to my ear at least, as is Estuary English. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/59 "2011-07-29T01:26:44Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > To be specific, Glaswegian seems to be one, to my ear at least, as is Estuary English. Quite. When Mick says “Keith”, that’s his actual Dartford upbringing. When he’s says “Keef”, he’s putting on a Cockney (“Estuary”) accent, as has been his wont over the decades. ---
**Author:** ![jcjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@jcjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jcjc)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376/60 "2012-08-02T01:10:37Z")
I thought of this one because of the Olympics 🙂 medal metal meddle mettle And then I googled “most homphones” since I was curious if there was a word with more than four. I was happy to see that “air” had 7 or 8 or however many, but most people in this thread couldn’t beat three. Saw it hadn’t been posted here yet so I just had to post it. (there aren’t many legit 4somes here, tons of 3somes) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-most-homophones/590376.md?page=4)