There are also words which have the same spelling but are pronounced differently. These are called homographs. The reverse case can be true, with words having different written forms and same pronunciation. These are known as homophones.
Summary:
homograph: same spelling, different pronunciation
Example
dove: a kind of bird
dove: past tense of dive
homophone: different spelling, same pronunciation
Example
two, too, to
homonym: same spelling, same pronunciation, and the words have different meanings
Example
bank: a financial institution
bank: a slope bordering a river
You may have noticed that homonymy and polysemy are very similar. How does one distinguish these two concepts? It is often useful to look into the etymology of the word, i.e., its historical origin. Another way to examine this concept would be to analyze the commonality of the different possible meanings of the word.
Here is an example that can show you how to differentiate homonyms and polysemic words:
plain = polysemic (can be thought of "simple" as in plain English or "devoid of complexity" plain shirt)
bank = homonym (no relation to each other; a river bank has nothing to do with a financial institution)
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