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What is the term for words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings? For example, there and their.

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Are you looking for something other than homonym? – Phire Jan 25 at 21:00
see also... – Mitch Jan 25 at 21:25
@Phire they're definitely looking for something other than homonym, as homonyms must be homophonic as well as homographic, and they're looking for something heterographic. – Jon Hanna Jan 25 at 21:59
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closed as general reference by Mitch, J.R., Kristina Lopez, tchrist, MετάEd Jan 26 at 0:23

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1 Answer

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They are heterographic homophones. They are also homophonic heterographs. All words that sound alike are homophones, and all words that are spelt differently are heterographs, and these are both.

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There are also homographic homonyms, like bear (v) and bear (n), as well as the heterographic ones bare and Bayer. – John Lawler Jan 25 at 21:23
@JohnLawler well we could define homonym as a homographic homophone, but that would include polysemes as well as true homonyms that don't share etymological roots, or at least branched away from each other before moving closer again. – Jon Hanna Jan 25 at 21:58

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