As a practical matter, however, the terms homophone, homograph, and homonym are often distinguished from one another by the contexts in which they are found. The word homonyms (“same” + “names”) is, strictly speaking, either a synonym for homophones or a name for words that are at once homophones and homographs -alike in both spelling and pronunciation-such as the two words spelled b-e-a-r and the three spelled s-o-u-n-d. Familiar examples are the pairs row /roʊ/ “line” and row /raʊ/ “fight” as well as sewer /ˈsu ər/ “conduit for waste” and sewer /ˈsoʊ ər/ “person who sews.” Their identical spellings define them as homographs no matter how they are said. However, words with the same spelling but different pronunciations are also homographs. The homographs sound “noise,” sound “healthy,” and sound, “a body of water,” for example, are spelled and pronounced the same way. Homographs (“same” + “writing”) are different words that are spelled the same but may or may not have the same pronunciation. But bear “carry or support” and bear, the animal, are homophones that not only sound alike but are also spelled alike. Thus pair “two of a kind,” pare “cut off,” and pear, the fruit, are homophones because they sound exactly the same, even though each is spelled differently.

Homophones (“same” + “sound”) are different words that sound alike, whether or not they are spelled alike. Three similar terms- homophone, homograph, and homonym -designate words that are identical in pronunciation, spelling, or both, while differing in meaning and usually in origin. Similarly girls can exist without their complimentary opposites, boys.1-3. They can independently exist without each other, such as a daughter is not the complimentary opposite of a son in the family.

Complimentary Antonyms – Complimentary antonyms use word pairs that are absolute opposites.

Relational or Converse Antonyms – Relational antonyms use word pairs having a close relationship in which each word cannot exist without the other, or one word has only a single relational opposite.

Healthy, vigorous, fit, strong / sick, unwell, ill, ailing.

Happy, pleased, joyful, ecstatic / sad, gloomy, dejected, miserable.

Smart, clever, canny, bright / stupid, dim, obtuse, foolish, unwise.

Big, bulky, full-size, huge / petite, slight, and little.For instance, the words “big” and “little” are opposite however, they can use a variety of other words with opposite meanings such as: Graded Antonyms – Graded antonyms use words having variations between two opposites.There are three types of antonym, which are:

What does antonym means