List of English homographs
List of homographs in
English
- abuse
- (n) There is a time, when the hoary head of inveterate abuse will neither draw reverence, nor obtain protection.
- (v) It is the characteristic of the English drunkard to abuse his wife and family.
- allied
- (a) The vice is of a great kindred: it is well allied.
- (a) The Treaty of Vienna..had bound the Allied Powers to make war together upon Napoleon.
- ally
- (n) He became the ally of a boy named Aubrey Mills and founded with him a gang of adventurers in the avenue.
- (v) No foreign power will ally with us.
- Arkansas
- articulate
- bass
- baton
- Baton Rouge is home to a thriving Kung Fu community.
- Baton tossing, when done well, provides excellent parade entertainment.
- bow
- breath
- buffet
- celtic
- close
- contract
- crooked
- des
- does
- dogged
- dove
- (n) The dove is a kind of bird.
- (v) He dove into the pool.
- en
- grace
- house
- lead
- Water traveled through ancient Rome through lead pipes.
- The mother duck can lead her ducklings around.
- lima
- live
- minute
- mobile
- moped
- oblige
- overall
- polish
- primer
- produce
- putting
- The final step in each hole in golf is putting' the ball across the green into the cup.
- She is putting on a show for you.
- ragged
- read
- real
- resume
- riches
- separate
- sewer
- Broken sewer pipes can be a smelly mess.
- When my clothes rip, my sister. who is an excellent sewer, fixes them for me.
- tear
- terrible
- use
- vie
- voyage
- whoop
- wind
- How did we wind up in Kansas?
- The wind blew from the northeast.
- won
- wound
- The rope was wound around his wrists.
- She died from a fatal chest wound.
Some words are nouns or adjectives when the accent is on the first syllable and verbs when it is on the second.
When the prefix "re-" is prepended to a monosyllabic word, and the word gains currency both as a noun and as a verb, it will probably fit into this pattern, although, as the list below makes clear, most words fitting this pattern do not match that description.
Many of these have first syllables that evolved from Latin prepositions, although again that does not account for all of them. Also, some of these words only exhibit the stress alternation in certain varities of English.
- absent
- abstract
- address
- affect
- ally
- attribute
- combine
- commune
- compact
- compost
- compound
- compress
- concert
- conduct
- conflict
- conscript
- console
- consort
- construct
- consult
- content
- contest
- contract
- contrast
- converse
- convert
- convict
- default
- defect
- desert
- digest
- discharge
- dismount
- display
- effect
- entrance
- exploit
- extract
- finance
- impact
- implant
- import
- impound
- incense
- incline
- increase
- insert
- insult
- intercept
- interchange
- intrigue
- invite
- object
- overcount
- overlay
- overlook
- perfect
- perfume
- permit
- pervert
- present
- proceeds
- produce
- progress
- project
- protest
- purpose
- rebel
- recall
- recap
- recess
- record
- redress
- refund
- refuse
- regress
- reject
- relapse
- remake
- research
- retake
- retard
- retract
- subject
- survey
- suspect
- transfer
- transform
- transplant
- transport
- transpose
- undercount
- update
- uplift
- upset
See also:
initial-stress-derived noun