As nouns the difference between homonym and synonyms
is that homonym is a word that both sounds and is spelled the same as another word but has a different meaning while synonyms is plural of lang=en.
homonym
English
Noun
(
en noun)
(semantics, strict sense) A word that both sounds and is spelled the same as another word but has a different meaning.
(loosely) A word that sounds or is spelled the same as another word but has a different meaning, technically called a (homophone) (same sound) or a (homograph) (same spelling).
(taxonomy) A name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another name that belongs to a different taxon.
Usage notes
* Homonyms (in the looser sense) are divided into the two overlapping subcategories homographs and homophones. Examples:
** (die) and (dye) (homophones but not homographs)
** the (parasitic) (flatworm) called a (fluke) and (fluke), part of the tail of a whale (both homophones and homographs and therefore true homonyms in the strict sense)
** the metal (lead) and the present tense of the verb (lead) (homographs but not homophones)
Related terms
* homonymic
* homonymous
