13 Heteronyms: English Words That Change Meanings With Pronunciation

English pronunciation is like the cuckoo that is born in a crow’s nest. - Jims Varkey

In our previous posts on language, we met the phantoms of the English language – the Phantonyms , and the two-faced Janus words – the Contronyms . The former mean something totally different from what they sound like, while the latter mean one thing and also its exact opposite! In this post, let us introduce you to the chameleons of the English language – the Heteronyms.

Heteronyms ( hetero- “different” + onym “name”) are words that have the same spelling but whose meanings change when they are pronounced differently . Visually, these words appear identical. But just like a chameleon changes its color according to its surroundings, these words change their pronunciation and their meaning according to the context.

So let’s find out how and where these chameleons hide and what colors they take on.