Words that sound similar. Types of homonyms

Homonyms are words that sound and are spelled the same, but have nothing in common in meaning. The term comes from the Greek language: homos - "same", onima - "name". Let's say onion- plant and onion- weapons for throwing arrows, drown stove and sink ships.

Consider types of homonyms.

1. Some words are spelled the same but pronounced differently: lock and lock, p'arit(linen, vegetables) and steam(in the clouds), st`oit(bread in the store) and worth it(car, tree). Such words are called homographs , which in Greek means "spelling the same way."

2. There are words that are pronounced the same way, but they need to be written differently. For instance, pond and rod, metal and metal, five and span. This homophones , translated from Greek - "the same sounding".

Among the homophones there are many such pairs that do not coincide in all their forms, but in some or even one. If you start changing words by cases and numbers, then you immediately find a difference in their sound. Let's say by the pond, to the pond – two rods, hit with a rod. Word " three" can also be a numeral ( three apples, three things) and verb ( three strong!). But not all forms of these words will match: to rub, ter – three, three. The same forms of different words are called homoforms .

Homonyms can be a hindrance in linguistic communication, they are especially difficult for a translator. In this case, the context helps, because in natural conversation, words are rarely used in isolation. From the context, it is easy enough to guess what meaning is meant: This is a very simple example. - Simple equipment is quite expensive.

§ 51. Homonymy and its types

The polysemy of words is a large and multifaceted problem, various issues of lexicology are associated with it, in particular, the problem of homonymy. Homonyms – words that sound the same but have different meanings. The relationship between polysemy and homonymy is historically conditioned. With the development of the language, “the same inner shell of the word is overgrown with shoots of new meanings and meanings” [Vinogradov V. V. 1947: 14]. Homonyms in a number of cases arise from a polysemy that has undergone a process of destruction: fist- hand with clenched fingers and fist- a wealthy peasant, a good strong owner, and then fist - peasant exploiter (class definition). The problem of distinguishing between polysemy and homonymy is complex; linguists offer various criteria for breeding these phenomena. There are several approaches.

O.S. Akhmanova built the distinction between polysemy and homonymy, first of all, taking into account the nature of the relationship of the word with objective reality. If each of the meanings is an independent name of a certain object of the surrounding world and is independent of any other object, then these meanings belong to different homonymous words. For example: hail (city) and hail (precipitation); scythe (hairstyle), scythe (shallow) and scythe (tool).

E. M. Galkina-Fedoruk was of the opinion that the distinction between polysemy and homonymy should be carried out by selecting synonyms. If the synonyms have nothing in common, then these are homonyms: boron (drill) - boron (coniferous forest) - boron (chemical element).

A number of scientists, without rejecting the named criteria, also suggested taking into account derivational features: for example, reaction as a term of different sciences has different derivational rows: reaction (biol., chem.) reagent, reactive, reactivity; reaction(polit.) - reactionary, reactionary, reactionary.

Homonyms often have different syntactic compatibility, different forms controls: care from work and care for a child, for flowers; change plan, but change homeland. However, these delimitation criteria are not universal, so sometimes there are discrepancies in dictionaries. The sources of homonymy are as follows:

Homonyms are a product of the breakdown of polysemy: drying - drying and drying - type of product (steering wheel).

Derivative homonyms: to buy (from the verb "buy") and (from the verb "to bathe").

The consequence of the historical change in the sound image of different words: IS (available) and ЂST (to eat) coincided in sound by the middle of the 18th century: the sound “ê” (closed) or the Old Russian diphthong “ye” (transmitted in writing by the letter Ђ “yat”) became pronounced like [e], so the pronunciation of words ceased to differ. In 1918, a spelling reform was carried out, some letters were abolished, including the letter Ђ, and the above words coincided not only in sound, but also in spelling. Let's take another example. Word Lynx(animal) in ancient times it sounded “ryd” and was the same root with the words blush, red; then "ds" was simplified into "s". Word Lynx how the running of a horse goes back to the Old Russian “rist” (cf. the lists), later the final “t” “disappeared, and the “r” hardened.

The richest source of homonymy are borrowed words, for example: tour (bull - Old Russian) and tour (from French): waltz tour, beam (ravine - from Turkic languages) and beam (log - from German), marriage (marriage - Russian) and marriage (flaw - from German) and others.

Homonyms are divided into full, or proper lexical homonyms, and incomplete homonyms, among which, in turn, several types are distinguished. TO proper lexical homonyms include, for example: English: flaw1 – crack; flaw2 – gust of wind; Russian: light1 - energy; light2 - the world, the universe. These words have the same sound, spelling and refer to the same part of speech. The types of incomplete homonyms are as follows:

1. Homophones - words and forms of different meanings, coinciding in sound, but differing in spelling:

meadow (field) - bow (shooting tool), ball (dance party) - score (score).

2. homographs - words that are different in meaning and sound, but the same in spelling:

atlas (fabric) - atlas (a collection of geographical maps), castle - castle.

3. homoforms (morphological homonyms) - words that coincide in sound and spelling in one or more grammatical forms:

swarm (n.) of bees - swarm (vb.) pit, expensive (n.) - expensive (adj.), new saw (n.) - drank (vb.) coffee, tourniquet (v.) grass - medical tourniquet ( n.).

Adjacent to homonyms paronyms – words that are similar in sound and spelling, but different in meaning. They are sometimes mistakenly used one instead of the other: a subscription (the right to use something) and a subscriber (a person who has a subscription); effective (productive) and spectacular (conspicuous); a secretive (closed) person and a hidden (invisible) mechanism and many others.

Homonyms are words that are different in meaning but have the same sound and spelling.

Word homonym came from the Greek homos - identical + onima - name.

Most homonyms are among nouns and verbs.

Example:

1. DEFEND - protect (defend a friend).

2. DEFEND - to stand (to stand in line).

3. DEFEND - to be at some distance from someone, something. (the airport is five kilometers away from the city).

Reasons for the appearance of homonyms in the language

random word match:

Example:

1. ONION - loans. Garden plant with a spicy taste.

2. ONION - claim.-rus. A hand-held weapon for throwing arrows, made from a flexible, resilient rod (usually wooden) tied into an arc with a bowstring.

coincidence in the formation of new words:

Example:

SEND - send with an order. The person doing the task 1. AMBASSADOR .

SALT - preserve something in a salt solution. Method of salting products - 2. AMBASSADOR .

loss of semantic connection between the meanings of a polysemantic word.

Example:

This happened in ancient times with the word LIGHT :

LIGHT - 1) lighting, 2) earth, world, universe.

These meanings have become so distant that they have lost their semantic connection. Now they are two different words.

1. LIGHT - radiant energy that makes the world around us visible.

2. LIGHT - Earth, world, universe.

Homonyms must be distinguished from polysemantic words. The meanings of homonyms are clear only in phrases and sentences. A single word GENUS unclear. But, if you introduce it into a phrase, it becomes clear what is at stake:

Example:

ancient genus , male genus .

Types of homonyms

Often homonyms, homoforms, homophones and homographs are used in puns - witty expressions, jokes.

Example:

You are NOT MINE this umbrella, because it is NOT MINE, you lost it MUMB.

Use homonyms, homoforms, homophones and homographs in your speech should be very careful. Sometimes they lead to unwanted ambiguity.

Example:

Yesterday I visited the Poetry DAY. Day poetry? Or bottom poetry?

1. Guess the riddle of O. Emelyanova, write a polysemantic word below.

Can at least arrange a flood,
Pour into a glass of water,
Build a hundred-story house

And stop the train.

2. Choose and write a different meaning for each word.

Zipper on jacket, trousers

Lightning

Detail of the undercarriage of the tank

Caterpillar

Words to choose from: natural phenomenon, sister of thunder, celestial arrow, garden pest, beetle's girlfriend.

3. Enter the words - homonyms from the words to choose from. Write the same words side by side again, breaking them into syllables.
They store perfumes and medicines. They hit your nose when you drink lemonade.
This ____________________. ____________________________.

Board game. Taxi badge.
This ___________________. ___________________________.

Words to choose from: bottles, vials, boxes, checkers, sabers, knives.

4. Guess and write homonyms in the sentences.

1. _________________ has already become the moon in the sky, and the whole dad _________________ does not come from a business trip.

2. I will raise the fallen __________________, stick it on the landscape ___________________.

3. ____________________, _____________________ there will be a hole, and maybe not one,

and whole _____________________.

Come up with your own sentence with the homonyms zebra and zebra.

__________________________

5. Fill in the missing letters (where necessary) and answer the question in writing.

What kind of bird _ ka l _ melts in our test _ n _ bots?

Test work 26
Words that are close in meaning (synonyms)

1. Tick ​​the row in which all words are close in meaning (synonyms).
 gloomy, sad, sad, angry
 Dwarf, baby, midget, boy - with a finger.
 Take off, soar, rise, overtake.
 Simple, easy, easy, interesting.

2. Think about the order in which the words should be placed. Write them down in right order.
Big, gigantic, universal, huge, immense.

Are these words similar in meaning? Please tick the correct one
answer.
 Yes  No

With any two of these words, make up and write down phrases.

__________________________

3. Read the text. Choose from the brackets appropriate value words and put it in a sentence. In the penultimate sentence, underline the words that are closest in meaning.

She went out into the garden and ___ (gasped, screamed, surprised). The sun is not quite _____________________________ yet (rose, rose, rose), but its first rays were already shimmering in dewdrops. Apricot trees were _______________________________ (fabulous, beautiful, unusual)! They shone and sparkled with a reddish summer glow. And they smelled.
(According to A. Mironenko)

4. Write down the sentences, replacing each word with the closest possible meaning.

Babushkino apricot jam was special. Whole apricots floated in thick, amber, and surprisingly fragrant syrup.

____________________

5. Compare two verses. Find and write out the words that are similar in meaning.

1. You offended me, but tell me - why?

I squeezed the lollipop in my hand, but I won’t eat it all!

I asked for just a little, I asked for a little,

Be careful, I'd take a bite.

(I. Tokmakova)

2. You upset me, and answer - why?
I hid the lollipop in my fist, but I won’t take it away completely!
I moaned quite a bit, begged a little,
Carefully, I would break off the edge.
(S. Mikhailova)
Sample. Offended - offended

Test work 27
Words that are opposite in meaning (antonyms)

1. In proverbs and sayings, find and underline the opposite words.
by value.
Know more, say less. Do not be afraid of a smart enemy, be afraid of a stupid friend. You will lead with the book - you will pick up your mind.
Write the first proverb by dividing
all words to transfer.

2. Insert the missing letters. Guess the riddle, write the riddle. Underline the words that are opposite in meaning.
In a linen page _ not along a r _ ke - a sheet
Floats n _ rokhod, then n _ back, then vp _ red.

And behind it is such a smooth surface - not a m _ rshchinki can _ give.

3. Choose and write down words that are opposite in meaning.
Floats - ___________________, land - _______________, moon - __________, black - _______________________________, night - __________________,
land - ______________

4. Enter in folk omens words with opposite meanings.
Spring is red and hungry; autumn is rainy, gloomy, yes _____________________.
Summer week is more expensive _____________________________.
Words to choose from: nourishing, generous, rich, winter, new, hot.

Write down the word rainy, dividing it for hyphenation.

5. The girl accidentally replaced one word with another. Will the new word have the opposite meaning? Please tick the correct answer.
We decided the story for the guests
Read about the squirrel.
But out of excitement
I read
What's in the cage
The bun lived!
(According to A. Barto)
 Yes  No

Is it possible to pick up words squirrel or bun opposite words? Explain in writing.

__________________________

Test work 28

Hey! Homonyms are often found in English and this is enough interesting topic, which you need to know in order to communicate freely in English without getting into ridiculous situations, and easily translate any text. Let's see what kind of words these are and what kind of lexical concept is English homonymy.
Homonymy is a phenomenon that is characterized by the presence in the language of words that have several completely different meanings, although their spelling or pronunciation (perhaps both) completely coincide.

Homonyms are words that have the same spelling and sound, but different semantic meanings.

Here are some examples to make it clearer what these words are:

• Arm (weapon) - arm(hand)
• Can (can) - can(tin)
• Well (good) - well(well)

Homonyms are words that are spelled the same but have different meanings.

Origin and use of English homonyms

According to linguists, today homonyms in the English language make up approximately 16-18% of the total vocabulary. This is much more than in Russian. Such an intensive development of this phenomenon in the English language is due to a number of reasons. However, as scientists who study the etymology of words have found, borrowings from other languages ​​influence the development of English homonymy the most. Most of these borrowings come from French and Latin. The phonetic structure of the foreign word changes according to the rules in English. So, often as a result of phonetic changes, coincidences occur.

Another source of homonyms in English is historical word changes. During historical development some words that were originally different in their pronunciation acquired the same phonetic form.

Classification of English homonyms

The classification of homonyms is important in the study of homonymy in any of the languages. A huge number of works in which linguists offer different classifications is evidence of this. The question regarding the classification of homonyms is still "open", as each of the scientists offers his own version.

I propose to consider the following classification of English homonyms:

1. Absolute homonyms- words in a language that are the same in sound and spelling.
   • Sound - healthy
   • Sound - sound
2. Homophones Words that sound the same but are spelled differently. In another way they are called phonetic homonyms.
   • meat
   • Meet - to meet
3. homographs Words that have the same spelling but are pronounced differently. Also called graphic homonyms.
   • Row (line) - row (out of order)
4. Paronyms are words that have a similar pronunciation, but are not completely identical.
   • Desert ["dezət] - desert
   • Dessert - dessert
5. In accordance with the parts of speech to which homonyms belong, they can also be divided into several types: grammatical, lexical and lexico-grammatical.
   • Lexical homonyms- have the same grammatical characteristics and different lexical ones, that is, they belong to the same part of speech, but are not reduced to a common semantic meaning
   • Grammatical homonyms- are characterized by a certain commonality of meaning, but belong to different parts of speech
   • Lexico-grammatical homonyms- have different grammatical and lexical characteristics, but on the formal side, some commonality is found

Homonyms in English are of the following types: absolute homonyms, homophones, homographs, paronyms, lexical, grammatical and lexico-grammatical

Homonymy is a source of language difficulties

Homonyms create a barrier to understanding English speech. This barrier is especially noticeable in the perception of oral speech.
For example, this pair of homophones:

• wreak - retribution
• reek - stink

These words are absolutely identical in sound, but as you can see, their spelling and meaning are completely different.

Dealing with homonyms is also not so easy. The following pair of homonyms can make it difficult for a beginner in English:

• flat - flat
• flat - flat

For example, take this sentence:

• It is a flat

Two translation options:

1. It's flat
2. This is an apartment

It will probably be difficult for a beginner to translate this sentence correctly. Usually the article -a, which indicates that in this case flat" has the meaning " apartment' goes unnoticed, causing translation problems.

But homographs can lead to erroneous pronunciation of the word. For example, let's take one of the most common verb to read. As is known, this irregular verb, which does not form the past tense when appended -ed. All three of its forms are spelled the same read, but they are read differently.

• 1st form - read is pronounced [ri: d]
• 2nd and 3rd form - read is pronounced [red]

The way to overcome this barrier is to memorize homonyms in pairs. If you remember the most frequently used pairs of homonyms and their meanings, then with the help of the context you will understand what semantic unit is being discussed.

Examples of the most used English homonyms

In the following table you will find pairs homonyms, homographs, homophones and paronyms, which are found most often in English and knowing them will make it easier for you to understand the English language.
Pairs of the most popular English homonyms

Accept [əkˈsept] Except [ɪkˈsept]	agree, accept, accept Exclude
It's Its	It is His her
Loose Lose	Free Lose
Envelop [ɪnˈveləp] Envelope [ˈenvələup]	Wrap Envelope
Coarse course	Rude Well
Complement [ˈkɔmplɪmənt] Compliment ["kɔmplɪmənt]	Additional Compliment
Creak Creek	Creak Stream
May be Maybe	Maybe (be) Maybe
Main mane	Main Mane
Maize maze	Corn labyrinth
Mall Maul	alley Sledgehammer
mean mean	To mean Average
meat Meet	Meat Meet
Farther [ˈfɑ:ðə] Further [ˈfə:ðə]	Remote Additional
Than [ðæn] Then [ðen]	How Later
weather [ˈweðə] Whether [ˈweðə]	Weather Lee
Air [ɛə] Heir [ɛə]	Air Heir
Band Band	Group Unite
bank bank	mound Bank
bark bark	Bark Bark
Bat Bat bat	Bat bat Blink
Bare Bear	Naked, empty Bear
Be Bee	Be Bee
Beat beet	Hit Beet
buy By Bye(!)	Buy Near Till (!)
cell Sell	Cell, cell Trade
Cent Scent	Cent Aroma
cue Queue	hint, hint Queue
hole Whole	Hole whole, whole
Desert ["dezət] Dessert	Desert Dessert
Die Dye	Die dye, dye
Earn [ə:n] Urn [ə:n]	Earn Urn
Flea Flee	Flea Run away, run away
Flour [ˈflauə] Flower ["flauə]	Flour Flower
Hair Hare	Hair Hare
Hoarse Horse	Hoarse Horse
None Nun	No one Nun
Pair Pear Pare	Pair Pear peel (peel)
Peace piece	Peace Piece
Right Rite Write	right, right rite Write
Sail Sale	Sail Sale
Stationary [ˈsteɪʃnərɪ] Stationery [ˈsteɪʃnərɪ]	Fixed Stationery
Stalk Stalk	Stem Chase
sound sound	Sound Healthy
Sea See	Sea See
Sew So	Sew So, so
Some sum	Several Sum
Son Sun	A son The sun
tail Tale	Tail Story
Waist Waste	Waist Waste
Wait Weight	Wait Weight
Weak week	Weak A week
Which Witch	Which the Witch
Wine Wine	whimper Wine

In this table of homonyms, not all of the existing ones are presented, but the most common and necessary for the student of English.

In many languages ​​of the planet there is such a thing as homonymy. It is based on the fact that words and morphemes that are identical in sound and spelling have different meaning. They are called "homonyms". Examples of them are found all over the place. We use them very often in ordinary speech.

Homonyms

Examples confirming this phenomenon are known to many. These are common words:

• "bow" in the meanings of plant and weapon;
• "escape", in one case denoting a young branch, and in another - unauthorized hasty departure.

Out of context, it is difficult to determine exactly what meaning these homonyms are used in. Example sentences with words will demonstrate this phenomenon clearly.

• Green onions are especially good in vegetable salads.
• The boy was given a toy bow and arrow for his birthday.
• The apple tree gave a young shoot, but the gardener pruned it in the fall.
• The Count of Monte Cristo escaped from prison in a creative way, replacing the prisoner's corpse with himself.

Examples of phrases will help to understand what homonyms mean:

• "green onions" and "accurate onions";
• "maiden spit" and "river spit";
• "three apples" and "three rag stain".

This phenomenon is quite entertaining, therefore it is often used by Russian language teachers as an entertaining technique in studying the subject, a way to expand the vocabulary and horizons of students.

Games with homonyms in the classroom and extracurricular activities

To conduct this competition, you should prepare pairs of words that have the same pronunciation and spelling, but completely different meanings. Only meanings are offered to players, and the words themselves (you can use one spelling for both) are hidden under a cardboard picture that will serve as a point token, for example, a tree leaf template, an apple, a gold ingot. The participant who correctly named the homonyms receives this emblem after the correct answer as a point. At the end of the game, token points are counted up and a winner is chosen.

Homonyms are suitable for the competition, examples of which may be as follows (it should be recalled that only pictures are presented to participants and viewers, the words themselves are closed):

• "shop" as a piece of furniture and a medium-sized outlet;
• the word "lama", acting in one sense as an animal, and in another - as a Tibetan monk.

At the lesson, you can offer students one or two pairs of words. This task will take only a few minutes, and the benefits will be huge. Indeed, in addition to the above, this type of activity generates and strengthens interest in the study of the Russian language.

Homonymy and polysemy

Many words have more than one meaning. Coinciding in spelling, they differ lexically. It is necessary to distinguish between homonyms and polysemantic words. Examples of polysemy are also quite common. For example, two words pronounced as "key" can act as homonyms in the following way:

• spring and device for opening.

But in the meanings of “violin”, “wrench”, “from the door lock”, “device for rolling cans”, “key” is one word. This is an amazing linguistic feature, which should already be considered as a phenomenon of polysemy. Indeed, in each of the listed options, the ability of the key to open something appears: a musical string or some object. It is one word with different meanings, not different homonyms.

There are a great many examples of such polysemantic words in Russian speech. Sometimes it is quite difficult to separate them from homonyms.

Polysemy sometimes comes from the transition of the name by external resemblance. This is

• "sleeve" - ​​a separate riverbed and part of the shirt;
• "tape" - a device for a girl's hairstyle and a long road, a moving part of the conveyor.

The ambiguity of these words arose from the outward similarity of some features. For example, a sleeve in clothing is separated from a common large object. And the branching of the channel resembles the same phenomenon. Actually, the word “trouser leg” could have appeared in this version, but for some reason the Russian people chose the “sleeve”.

The tape is a narrow long object. Apparently, the person who invented the conveyor saw the similarity of its moving part with a device for a girl's hairstyle. This is how the name transition, the phenomenon of polysemy, took place.

Etymological homonymy

A group of words refers to homonyms unambiguously, since their very origin is already different. Therefore, in the task “Give examples of homonyms that differ etymologically”, you need to pick up such words that came into Russian speech from different languages. To do this, look into the etymological dictionary.

These are the word "boron", denoting chemical element, and its homonym is pine forest. The first noun came into Russian speech from the Persian language, where it sounded like "borax", that is, a compound of boron. The name of the pine forest is of Slavic origin.

Some linguists believe that the existence of the phenomenon of homonymy should be recognized only where the very etymology of words differs.

The same linguists do not see homonymy in the noun "ether" as an organic substance and in the meaning of "broadcasting and television". After all, historically both words have a common etymology. They came from the ancient Greek root αἰθήρ, which means "mountain air". And if the task says: “Give examples of homonyms,” and the respondent uses the word “ether” in two meanings, then these scientists will consider the answer incorrect.

Disputes of linguists about polysemy and homonymy

However, not everyone can offhand determine the historical origin of words. Often this requires special dictionaries. Therefore, most people see that the meanings of the word "ether" are completely different and classify them as homonyms. Therefore, some linguists also do not see ambiguity here. The explanatory dictionary also refers them to different words with different meanings.

Examples of homonyms that cause controversy among linguists are as follows:

• “braid” in the meaning of a hairstyle and a mowing tool, since some argue that there is a transition of the name here according to external similarity (thin and long);
• "pen" as a tool for writing, a device for opening, turning on, since some people determine polysemy by the fact that they have something in common in the mode of action (they write and open with their hands);
• "feather" in the sense of "pen" and as a skin horn formation of birds and some dinosaurs, considering that the first meaning came to the word from the historical way of writing with bird feathers.

Some linguists refer to homonymy all words in which polysemy can be traced. They consider polysemy only a special case.

Full homonyms

Linguists divide words that have the same pronunciation and spelling and have different meanings into two groups. Full lexical homonyms belonging to the same grammatical category are allocated to one category. Examples of these: "scythe", "tongue", "escape", "key" and others. In all their forms, these words coincide both in spelling and in pronunciation.

Incomplete or partial homonyms

There are also words that coincide only in some forms. These are grammatical homonyms. Examples of this phenomenon often refer to different parts of speech:

• "three" - 2nd person verb singular imperative mood with the initial form "rub" and "three" - a cardinal number;
• “oven” is a verb in an indefinite form and “oven” is a feminine singular noun;
• "saw" is a feminine singular past tense verb and "saw" is a feminine singular noun.

Grammatical homonymy is also observed in words belonging to the same part of speech. For example, the verbs of the 1st person singular of the present tense "fly". The first word is defined as an action related to medicine. Already the infinitive will sound like "treat". And the second verb has the initial form "to fly" and denotes the action of making a flight.

Partial homonymy is observed in words of the same grammatical category. This happens when words differ in only one form. For example, two nouns "weasel" - an animal and a manifestation of tenderness - do not coincide only in the genitive case plural. These homonyms will look like “weasels” and “weasels” in this form.

Homonyms and homophones

Some confuse the phenomenon of homonymy with others. For example, homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings but are spelled differently. These are not homonyms! Examples of words that are homophones show this feature.

• “Cat” is a pet, and “code” is most often a certain set of characters or sounds.

Everyone will notice that these words should be written in different ways. But by ear to catch the difference is almost impossible. The word "code" must be pronounced with a stunning final consonant. This is where the sound similarity comes from.

Homonymy and homography

There are other linguistic phenomena similar to the one we are considering. For example, homographs are interesting because they are the same in spelling, but are pronounced differently, most often due to stress. They are also not homonyms. Examples of homograph words are as follows:

• gate - gate;
• castle - castle;
• smell - smell.

Homographs are also interesting for composing tasks for contests and games. With the help of picture riddles in which homographs are encrypted, linguistic activities can be diversified.

Homonyms- these are different in meaning, but the same sounding or spelling units of the language - words, morphemes.
Derived from Greek homos- the same and onyma- name.
There are several types of homonyms: full and partial, graphic and grammatical, phonetic and homonymous.

At full/absolute homonyms the whole system of forms coincides. For instance, key(for the castle) - key(spring), bugle(blacksmith) - bugle(wind instrument).
At partial Not all forms are the same. For instance, weasel(animal) and weasel(show of tenderness) diverge in the form of the genitive plural - caresses - caresses.

Graphic homonyms or homographs- words that coincide in spelling, but differ in pronunciation (in Russian due to differences in stress).
From Greek. homos- the same and grapho- writing.
Atlas - atlas
lead - lead
whiskey - whiskey
road - road
castle - castle
smell - smell
healthy - healthy
goats - goats
lesok - lesok
little - little
flour - flour
inferno - inferno
pier - pier
forty - forty
already - already

Grammatical homonyms or homoforms- words that sound the same only in some grammatical forms and most often belong to different parts of speech.
I'm flying by plane and flying throat (in other forms - to fly and treat, flew and treated, etc.); acute saw and saw compote (in other forms - saw and drink, saws and drink, etc.).

Homonymous morphemes or homomorphemes- morphemes that match in their own way sound composition, but different in meaning.
Derived from Greek homos- the same and morphe- form.
For example, the suffix -tel in nouns teacher(meaning of the actor) and switch(value of the active subject); suffix -ets in words sage, male, incisor and brother; suffix -k(a) in words river, training, extras and graduate student.

And the most interesting Phonetic homonyms or homophones Words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.
Derived from Greek ὀμόφωνο - "sound likeness".
Examples in Russian:

threshold - vice - park,
meadow - bow, fruit - raft,
ink - ink,
fall - fall
ball - score,
inert - bone,
betray - give
emit - imitate.

In Russian, the two main sources of homophony are the phenomenon of stunning consonants at the end of words and before another consonant and the reduction of vowels in an unstressed position.

Homophony also includes cases of phonetic coincidence of a word and a phrase or two phrases. The letters used can be exactly the same and the difference in spelling is only in the spacing:

in place, together
in everything - at all,
from mint - crumpled,
from the hatch - and evil,
not mine - mute.

In English, homophones arose as a result of the historically established different designation of the same consonant or vowel in writing, for example:

whole hole,
knew - new.

In French there are a whole series of homophones, consisting of three to six words, one of the reasons for which is that in French many final letters are not read.

Sources: Wikipedia, Dictionaries, Reference books