Two words that share the same written form but have different meanings are called

• A. Dyslexia
• B. Homograph
• C. Semantic
• D. Homonym

Answer: (B)

When two words share the same written form but have different meanings, the term is homographs. The key idea is that the spelling is identical, but the senses diverge. For example, lead can refer to guiding someone or to the metal, and bow can mean to bend or the front of a ship; they’re spelled the same but carry different meanings. Some people hear the word homonym and think it means this, but a precise use is that homographs are about the same spelling with different meanings. (Dyslexia describes a reading disorder; semantic relates to meaning in language in general; homonym can refer to words that sound alike, sometimes with different spellings, which isn’t the focus here.)