What defines a homophone as described in the material?

• A. Two words with the same spelling but different meanings.
• B. A word that rhymes with another word.
• C. A word with multiple prefixes.
• D. Two different spellings and meanings, same pronunciation.

Answer: (D)

Homophones are words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings and, usually, different spellings. The option that describes two different spellings and meanings with the same pronunciation fits this idea exactly. For example, night and knight sound alike but have different meanings and spellings.

Rhyming words share a similar ending sound, but they don’t have to be spoken identically or have the same overall pronunciation, so that isn’t the right definition. A word with multiple prefixes relates to word structure, not sound. And having the same spelling with different meanings concerns spelling and meaning, not how the words sound, so it isn’t about homophones.