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Aren't "homophones" a type of homonym? In both cases the words sound the same but have different meanings. I think the difference is only that the homophones have different spellings.
Sorry, it's just not the best answer. For example, "bow" (of a ship) and "bow" (bow and arrow) are homonyms. They are not pronounced the same way. Here is the best explanation I have seen.
That's like when the automated weather forecast sometimes pronounces winds like as in "Mary winds the clock" when they are talking about 30 mile an hour winds out of the southwest.
Word pairs that are spelt the same, but are pronounced differently, are heteronyms. Bow (pronounced bow) and bow (pronounced boe), as in the example above, are not homonyms, but are heteronyms.
The Venn diagram explains it pretty well on this page. There are two types of homophones: ones that sound alike, are spelled differently, and have different meanings (to, too, and two), and ones that sound alike, are spelled the same, and have different meanings (tire out and car tire). The first is called a heterograph (two and to). The second is a homonym (tire and tire). They are both homophones.
This does mean homophone is the best answer for this quiz. It would be like asking what taxonomical branch of animals has spinal chords and wanting mammals to be accepted when it’s clear that there are many non-mammal chordates.
I believe quizmaster might be mistaken on his explanation of homonyms, though. Homonyms necessarily sound alike, are spelled the same, and have different meanings.
I'm with Quizmaster on this, despite blanking on homophone while taking the quiz and repeatedly re-entering homonym, certain that there was a mistake in the quiz. Whilst what is described is indeed a homonym, the definition here only covers one group of homonyms - the homophones. Homonyms also include homographs, which share spelling, but not necessarily pronunciation. So I think accepting homonym for the question would be like accepting "young animal" for the pollywog question - it's not wrong, but it also isn't specific enough.
Homo is Greek for same.
Nym is Greek for name.
Phone is Greek for sound.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homophone
The Venn diagram explains it pretty well on this page. There are two types of homophones: ones that sound alike, are spelled differently, and have different meanings (to, too, and two), and ones that sound alike, are spelled the same, and have different meanings (tire out and car tire). The first is called a heterograph (two and to). The second is a homonym (tire and tire). They are both homophones.
I believe quizmaster might be mistaken on his explanation of homonyms, though. Homonyms necessarily sound alike, are spelled the same, and have different meanings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homonym
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