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Traditional linguistics draws a distinction within homonymy
between phonological homonymy (homophony) and
orthographic homonymy (homography).
Homophones are units that are pronounced the same but are
spelled differently: e.g. night/knight, here/hear, bare/bear,
Homographs are words that have the same spelling but
differ in origin, meaning and sometimes pronunciation: e.g.
desert [dι’zз:t] to withdraw from or leave usually
without intent to return
[‘dezət] arid land with usually sparse
vegetation.

Perfect homonyms are those that present both homophony
and homography: e.g.
match counterpart
narrow piece used for ignition
bore to drill
past tense of bear
provoke boredom
bark the characteristic short loud cry of a dog (from old
English beorcan)
the tough largely corky exterior covering of a
woody root or stem (from old Norse bo rkr)
stalk the main stem of an herbaceous plant often with its
dependent parts (from middle English stalken)
to hunt stealthily (from old English bestealcian)
bow to bend the head, body, or knee in greeting
reverence, respect, or submission (from old English
būgan)
a weapon for shooting arrows (from old English
boga)
forward part of a chip (from middle English bowe).

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