General Question

ragingloli's avatar

What are some words, that, despite being spelled identically, mean opposite things when pronounced differently, or used in a different context?

Asked by ragingloli (51970points) June 21st, 2018

For example: “overlook”.

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

10 Answers

canidmajor's avatar

Two of my favorites are maroon and quiver. This is a game I used to play with my daughter, spelled the same, pronounced the same, but have no connection whatsoever.

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

Can I bum a fag? Has different meanings from west to east. In Britain it means can I borrow a smoke. In the west it means ( NSFW ). Same is for a rubber. Different meanings for different countries. In Britain it means erasers and in the U.S. means condom.

gasman's avatar

Auto-antonym English examples—a sizeable list but all pronounced the same.

flutherother's avatar

Bound – can mean tied up and also leaping or jumping.
Cleave – can mean to stick together or to split apart.

canidmajor's avatar

Sanction. another fave.

imrainmaker's avatar

F*ck means lot of different things depending on context.

Response moderated (Unhelpful)
Response moderated
Kardamom's avatar

Read. In one instance, it is a command or suggestion to read.

In the other instance, the book or article or mind, has already been read.

JLeslie's avatar

Oversight. It can mean under one’s supervision, or that you overlooked something.

Fine. It can mean something is ok, or be a penalty for doing something not ok.

Isn’t English lovely.

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