Identical forms can hide unrelated meanings. A homonym is a word that shares spelling or pronunciation with another but differs in meaning and usually in origin, such as bank by a river and bank as a financial institution.

Some authors reserve the term for items identical in both spelling and sound, using homophone and homograph for partial overlap. Context usually disambiguates homonyms, though jokes and headlines exploit residual ambiguity.

Lexicographers give true homonyms separate entries. Learners must acquire each sense independently. Computational systems need strong context models to avoid confusing them in search and translation.

• Words identical in form but different in meaning
• Often historically unrelated
• Disambiguated mainly by context
• Listed as separate dictionary entries