Homographs are a kind ofhomonym in the loose sense of that term, i.e. a word that is either ahomophone (same sound) or ahomograph (same spelling). (The strict sense ofhomonym is a word that both sounds and is spelled the same as another word.) Specifically, homographs must have the same spelling, though they usually have different meanings and may be pronounced differently.
The verbbear(“to carry”) and the nounbear(“large omnivorous mammal”) are homographs with the same pronunciation and different etymological origins.
The verbalternate(“to go back and forth”) and the adjectivealternate(“following by turns”) are homographs with different pronunciations but close etymological origins. Such homographs are alsoheteronyms.
The verbmeet(“to encounter”) and the nounmeat(“food”) are not homographs since they have different spellings.
