Homophones and homonyms words in Spanish

By Marta Díaz on Thursday, January 23, 2025

In Spanish there are homophones and homonymous words that can be quite a challenge for students, not to mention homographs. Surely, during a conversation in Spanish, you have been told a word that you know what it means, but in that context, it doesn't make sense. This is where these types of Spanish words come into play.

In this Enforex article, you will learn what the Spanish homophones, homonyms and homographs are, how to differentiate them and some practical and common examples that you can find in Spanish. Don't think twice and start learning Spanish in Spain with Enforex!

Spanish homophones

Spanish homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and are spelled differently. For example, a homophone word is votar and botar. The first word means to cast a vote and the second one means to throw something away. In a sentence they would be used like this:

• Voy a votar por primera vez en las próximas elecciones (I'm going to vote for the first time in the upcoming election)
• Nos dejan botar la pelota durante el recreo (They let us throw the ball during recess)

Spanish homonyms

Spanish homonymy is the quality of two words that are spelled and sound alike but have different meanings. For example, banco is a polysemic word and Spanish homonym since it has several meanings, but it is always spelled the same:

• Me senté en un banco del parque (I sat on a park bench) – (seat)
• Tengo todos mis ahorros en el banco (I have all my savings in the bank) - (financial institution)
• El banco de peces es hermoso (The shoal of fish is beautiful) - (group of fish)

Spanish homograph words

On the other hand, Spanish homograph words are a type of homonymous words that are spelled the same but, may or may not, have different pronunciations. Although homograph words always have different meanings.

One example of a homograph word is vino and another is llama:

• Me trajeron un vino blanco muy bueno -- They brought me a very good white wine (drink)
• Mi amigo vino a verme ayer por la tarde -- My friend came to see me yesterday afternoon (Spanish verb venir)
• La llama iluminó todo el cuarto -- The flame illuminated the whole room (fire)
• En Perú habitan las llamas y las alpacas -- Peru is inhabited by llamas and alpacas (animal)

Differences between homophones, homonymous and homograph words in Spanish

Although these Spanish words may seem the same to you, these types of words have several key differences to learn and recognize them.

If you want to identify Spanish homophones, you should keep in mind that they are words that have the same pronunciation, but different spellings and meanings. While Spanish homonyms are those with the same pronunciation and spelling, but different meanings.

And finally, Spanish homograph words are always spelled the same, have the same pronunciation and have different meanings. In addition, Spanish homograph can coincide with homonymous words or be included in them.

Thus, Spanish homonyms and homograph words can coincide in spelling and pronunciation, while Spanish homophones words only coincide in pronunciation, since they are always spelled differently.

A tip for students of Spanish: learn to differentiate by context and spelling some homophone words. As for Spanish homonyms, you can only look at the context of the sentence to know the meaning of the word. And about homographs, a tip is to look at examples in sentences to understand how the meaning of the words changes, and, like Spanish homonyms, you can only know what each word means by the context.

List of homophones in Spanish

Here is a list of the most common homophones in Spanish and examples of sentences where they appear:

A / Ha

A: is a preposition that indicates direction or place. E.g. Voy a la escuela (I go to school)

Ha: comes from the auxiliary verb haber. E.g. Ella ha terminado su tarea (She has finished her homework)

Arrollo / Arroyo

Arrollo: verb to run over or drag something. E.g. El coche casi me arrolló al cruzar la calle (The car almost ran me over when crossing the street)

Arroyo: a small natural watercourse. E.g. El arroyo cruza el bosque (The creek crosses the forest)

Baca / Vaca

Baca: support for loading luggage on the roof of a vehicle. E.g. Colocamos la maleta en la baca del coche (We put the suitcase on the roof of the car)

Vaca: farm animal. E.g. La vaca de mi abuelo aún da leche (My grandfather's cow still gives milk)

Barón / Varón

Baron: title of nobility. E.g. El barón asistió a la ceremonia (The baron attended the ceremony)

Varón: man, person of the male sex. E.g. Durante la fiesta, el único varón del grupo era mi primo (During the party, the only male in the group was my cousin)

Basta / Vasta

Basta: interjection to ask for something to stop. E.g. ¡Basta de gritos! (Enough shouting!)

Vasta: wide, extensive. E.g. Vivimos en una región vasta. (We live in a vast region)

Bienes / Vienes

Bienes: possessions or material resources. E.g. Los bienes de la empresa fueron vendidos (The company's goods were sold)

Vienes: Spanish verb venir (to come), in the second person singular. E.g. ¿A qué hora vienes a la reunión? (What time are you coming to the meeting?)

Calló / Cayó

Calló: past tense of the verb callar, to keep silent. E.g. Se calló de repente ante la acusación (He suddenly fell silent before the accusation)

Cayó: past tense of the verb caer. E.g. El vaso se cayó al suelo (The glass fell to the floor)

Hola / Ola

Hola: greeting. E.g. Hola, ¿cómo estás? (Hello, how are you?)

Ola: movement of the water in the sea. E.g. La ola alcanzó la orilla (The wave reached the shore)

Hecho / Echo

Hecho: participle of the verb hacer; something done. E.g. El pastel está hecho con amor (The cake is made with love)

Echo: from the verb echar, to throw or expel. E.g. Siempre echo azúcar en el café (I always pour sugar into my coffee)

Huso / Uso

Huso: an instrument for spinning; time zone. E.g. El huso de la rueca me pinchó el dedo (The spindle of the spinning wheel pricked my finger)

Uso: use or application of something. E.g. El uso de este aparato es muy sencillo (The use of this apparatus is very simple)

Haya / Halla

Haya: tree or form of the verb haber. E.g. Espero que no haya problemas (I hope there are no problems)

Halla: from the verb hallar, to find. E.g. Halla soluciones a los problemas rápidamente (Find solutions to problems quickly)

Honda / Onda

Honda: strip of leather or other material used to throw stones; also means deep. E.g. Usó una honda para ahuyentar a los pájaros (He used a sling to chase away birds)

Onda: undulatory motion or curved shape. E.g. El agua formó una gran onda al caer (The water formed a big wave as it fell)

Rayar / Rallar

Rayar: to make lines or strokes. E.g. No quiero rayar el coche al estacionar (I don't want to scratch the car when parking)

Rallar: to shred something into small pieces using a grater. E.g. Voy a rallar queso para la pasta (I'm going to grate cheese for pasta)

Tubo / Tuvo

Tubo: a hollow piece, usually cylindrical. E.g. Necesito un tubo de metal para la cañería (I need a metal pipe for the plumbing)

Tuvo: past tense of the verb tener. E.g. Ella tuvo una gran idea (She had a great idea)

Vello / Bello

Vello: fine hair on the body. E.g. Se le puso el vello de punta por el frío (His hair stood on end because of the cold)

Bello: beautiful, pretty. E.g. Ese paisaje es muy bello (That landscape is very beautiful)

These are just some of the most common homophones in Spanish, but there are many more that you will discover during your Spanish learning adventure. Practice and keep learning new words to understand all possible contexts and identify homophones and homonyms. And if you want to give your Spanish a boost, you can sign up for an intensive Spanish course with us and explore one of the 11 cities where Enforex has a school. Learning Spanish has never been so easy!