Homophone

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A homophone is a word that sounds exactly like another. 'Meat', referring to animal food, sounds exactly like 'meet', meaning 'come together'.

Some homophones are also homonyms: the modal verb 'will' sounds and also looks exactly like 'will' as in 'last will and testament', and there is a third 'will', as in 'having a strong will'. (Words with the same spelling but different pronunciation are called homographs, as with the verb 'to tear', meaning 'to rip', and 'tear', as in 'tearful'.)

See also

English spellings