Editing Homophone (section)

===English===
There are online lists of multinyms. In English, concerning groups of homophones (excluding proper nouns), there are approximately 88&nbsp;triplets, 24&nbsp;quadruplets, 2&nbsp;quintuplets, 1&nbsp;sextet, 1&nbsp;septet, and 1&nbsp;questionable octet (possibly a second septet). The questionable octet is:

: ''raise'', ''rays'', ''rase'', ''raze'', ''rehs'', ''res'', ''reais'', [''race'']

Other than the common words ''raise'', ''rays'', and ''race'' this octet includes

* ''raze'' – a verb meaning "to demolish, level to the ground" or "to scrape as if with a razor"
* ''rase'' – an archaic verb meaning "to erase"
* ''rehs'' – the plural of ''reh'', a mixture of sodium salts found as an efflorescence in India
* ''res'' – the plural of [[re (musical note)|''re'']], a name for one step of the musical scale; obsolete legal term for "the matter" or "incident"
* ''reais'' – the plural of real, the currency unit of Brazil

The inclusion of "race" in the octet above is questionable, since its pronunciation differs from the other words on the list (ending with /s/ instead of /z/).

If proper names are included, then a possible nonet would be:
* ''[[Ayr]]'' – a town in [[Scotland]]
* ''[[River Aire|Aire]]'' – a river in [[Yorkshire]]
* ''Eyre'' – legal term and various geographic locations 
* ''heir'' – one who inherits
* ''air'' – the ubiquitous atmospheric gas that people breathe; a type of musical tune
* ''err'' – to make an error 
* ''ere'' – poetic / archaic "before" 
* ''e'er'' – poetic "ever" (some speakers)
* ''[[hectare|are]]'' – a [[metric system|metric unit]] of area, usually found in ''hectare''<ref>{{cite web |author=Burkardt, J. |title=Multinyms |series=Fun / wordplay |publisher=[[Florida State University]] |department=Department of Scientific Computing |url=http://people.sc.fsu.edu/~jburkardt/fun/wordplay/multinyms.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825095711/http://people.sc.fsu.edu/~jburkardt/fun/wordplay/multinyms.html |archive-date=2016-08-25}}</ref>

Certain word pairs that were historically variant spellings of the same words, but eventually standardized as distinct homophonous words by mere spelling, include:
*''flour''<ref>{{cite web|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|title=flour|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/flour#etymonline_v_8923}}</ref> and ''flower'':<ref>{{cite web|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|title=flower|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/flower#etymonline_v_8927}}</ref> ''flour'' is the older spelling used for the later meaning ("wheat powder," supposedly the "finest" part, the "bloom" of a meal;<ref name=oxford>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''</ref> compare [[French language|French]] ''[[wikt:fr:fleur de farine#Français|fleur de farine]]'', literally "flower of flour"); ''flower'' is the later spelling used for the original meaning ("bloom"). The verb ''flourish'' ("blossom") is spelt more similarly to the noun ''flour'' ("wheat powder").
*''discrete''<ref>{{cite web|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|title=discrete|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/discrete}}</ref> and ''discreet'':<ref>{{cite web|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|title=discreet|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/discreet}}</ref> ''discrete'' maintains the original meaning ("separate"); ''discreet'' is used for the later meaning ("prudent"), although the noun ''discretion''  ("prudence") looks more similar to ''discrete''. The split in spelling occurred after during the late 16th century when ''discreet'' was favored for the popular meaning of "prudent," while ''discrete'' is favored in academic contexts.
*''passed'' and ''[[past]]'':<ref>{{cite web|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|title=past|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/past#etymonline_v_7298}}</ref> ''past'' was one of the many variants of the [[past participle]] ''passed'' of the [[Middle English]] verb ''[[wikt:passen#Middle English|passen]]'' (whence [[Modern English]] ''pass'').<ref name=oxford/> During the 14th century, ''past'' was used specifically as an adjective and prepostion, and during the 15th century as a noun by [[Ellipsis (linguistics)|ellipsis]] with the earlier adjective.<ref name=oxford/> Compare the [[Romance languages|Romance]] [[cognate]]s, French ''[[wikt:passé#French|passé]]'', [[Italian language|Italian]] ''[[wikt:passato#Italian|passato]]'', [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] ''[[wikt:passado#Portuguese|passado]]'' and [[Spanish language|Spanish]] ''[[wikt:pasado#Spanish|pasado]]'', all of which function as past participles, adjectives and nouns.
*''born''<ref>{{cite web|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|title=born|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/born#etymonline_v_15631}}</ref> and ''borne'': these were variant spellings of the same past participle of ''bear'', whose general meaning is "carry", but with one specific derived meaning, "birth". The distinction between ''born'' for "birthed" and ''borne'' for "carried" came to be sometime during the 17th century. Compare ''sworne'', ''torne'' and ''worne'',<ref name=oxford/> variants of ''sworn'', ''torn'' and ''worn'', that did not survive into present-day English.

''Its'' was merely the genitive form of ''it'' and derived by adding the apostrophe and ''s'', thus originally spelt ''it's'', making it also a [[homograph]] of ''it's'' (contraction of ''it is/has''). The genitive ''it's'' was retained even toward the early 19th century.<ref name=oxford/> The spelling of ''aisle''<ref>{{cite web|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|title=aisle|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/aisle#etymonline_v_8084}}</ref> (from [[Middle French]] ''[[wikt:aisle#Middle French|aisle]]'', [[Old French]] ''[[wikt:aile#Old French|aile]]'', [[Latin]] ''[[wikt:ala#Latin|ālam]]'') was altered with the [[silent letter]] ''s'' due to its historical homophony with ''isle'' (Old French ''[[wikt:isle#Old French|isle]]'', Latin ''[[wikt:insula#Latin|īnsulam]]'') in both French and English. Spelling alteration (often based on [[etymology]]) can also obscure homophony, such as the case of ''[[wikt:colonel#English|colonel]]'', which prevailed over the historical variant ''coronel'' by the late Modern English period, but which is now still pronounced identically to ''kernel'' as if the ''r'' were still there in the spelling.<ref name=oxford/> The ''ye'' in ''dye'' is purposefully retained in its forms, especially its present participle ''dyeing'', in order to distinguish it from the homophonous ''dying'', which is the present participle of ''die''.

Homophones can arise from borrowed words which end up being pronounced the same in English, such as ''profit'' (ultimately from Latin ''profectus'') and ''prophet'' (ultimately from Greek προφήτης). Sometimes the English words are even homographs, such as ''quarry'' ('stone mine', from Latin ''quadraria'') and ''quarry'' ('thing that is pursued', from Latin ''corata'') or ''[[wikt:policy#Etymology 1|policy]]'' ('[[Policy|way of management]]', ultimately from Greek [[wikt:πολιτεία#Ancient Greek|πολῑτείᾱ]]) and ''[[wikt:policy#Etymology 2|policy]]'' ('[[Insurance policy|insurance contract]]', from Greek [[wikt:ἀπόδειξις#Ancient Greek|ἀπόδειξις]] via Latin ''[[wikt:apodixa#Latin|apodīssa]]'', [[Italian language|Italian]] ''[[wikt:polizza#Italian|polizza]]'' and French ''police'')—<ref>{{cite web|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|title=policy|url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/policy#etymonline_v_17569}}</ref>see the discussion of [[English words of Greek origin#Homographs of different origin|English homographs from different Greek origins]]. 

Many words were historically heterophonous, but after historical sound changes, including the [[Great Vowel Shift]] and [[Phonological history of English vowels|various vowel mergers]], they became homophonous. For example, ''ail'' and ''ale'', both pronounced {{IPA|/ɛjl/}} in Modern English, were respectively ''[[wikt:eilen#Middle English|eile(n)]]'' {{IPA|/ˈɛjlə(n)/}} and ''[[wikt:ale#Middle English|ale]]'' {{IPA|/ˈaːlə/}} in Middle English before the Great Vowel Shift. The verbs ''lie'' (past tense and past participle ''lied'') and ''lie'' (past tense ''lay'', past participle ''lain'') used to be ''[[wikt:leogan#Old English|lēogan]]'' {{IPA|[ˈleoːɣɑn]}} and ''[[wikt:licgan#Old English|liċġan]]'' {{IPA|[ˈliddʒɑn]}} in Old English; while ''will'' (past tense ''would'') and ''will'' (past tense and past participle ''willed'') used to be ''[[wikt:willan#Old English|willan]]'' {{IPA|[ˈwiɫɫɑn]}} and ''[[wikt:willian#Old English|willian]]'' {{IPA|[ˈwiɫɫiɑn]}}.

''Ax(e)'' (Middle English ''[[wikt:axen#Middle English|ax(i)e(n)]]'', [[Old English]] ''[[wikt:axian#Old English|āxian]]/[[wikt:acsian#Old English|ācsian]]''), an obsolescent variant of ''ask'' (Middle English ''[[wikt:asken#Middle English|ask(i)e(n)]]'', Old English ''[[wikt:ascian#Old English|āscian]]''), is homophonous with ''[[axe|ax(e)]]'' (cutting tool) in some Scottish accents, but with ''arcs'' in some English accents such as [[Multicultural London English]].<ref>{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nysHgnXx-o|title=Why do people say AKS instead of ASK?|author-first=Geoff|author-last=Lindsey|website=YouTube|date=7 Dec 2022}}</ref>

[[Epenthesis]], which often occurs at the boundary between a [[Nasal consonant|nasal]] and a [[fricative]], can cause some words that are phonemically distinct to become phonetically homophonous. For example, ''assistance'' may be pronounced {{IPA|[əˈsɪstənts]}}, with an additional ''t'' like in ''assistants''.