English Grammar Rules & Mistakes: Learn All of the Essentials: Writing, Speaking, Literature and Punctuation Rules Complete with 10 Key Skills and Over 200 Common Error Examples

Homographs - the same spelling and the same sound
Yes, you may be thinking what is the difference between a homograph which
has the same spelling and the same sound and a homonym that has the same
sound and the same spelling? Your question is very valid. The truth is, there
is not much of a difference between them other than what is considered
important to a homonym is that they sound the same. But with a homograph
what is considered important is that it has the same spelling. If after this
chapter, you are still not sure about the difference between them, don’t worry
about it. Instead, focus on practicing the examples because they are what will
show you how to use each word correctly.
Your lie has upset me so much, I have to go lie down.
In this example, the spelling is the same and the words sound the same but
both have very different meanings. The first lie means to be deceived by
someone and it is a noun. The second lie means to lay down on the bed, and
this is a verb. When you see these words, you can figure out which one is
which by recognizing which one is the noun and which one is the verb.

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Heteronyms - the same spelling with a different sound
The final one of our 4 H’s is the mighty heteronym. This group of words all
have the same spelling but have a different sound. As a native English
speaker, you have a bit of an advantage that you intuitively know how to
pronounce these words. You can imagine that if you are approaching English
as a second or third language, it can be pretty tricky to explain that they are
spelled the same but are not spoken in the same way. They are absolutely one
of the many exceptions that we have in the English language, in this case,
they are an exception based on what is considered a standardized vowel
sound. You should be able to approach any language and given that you
understand the way the vowels are pronounced in combination with other
letters, work out how to pronounce it. English just doesn’t work this way.
Unless someone shows you the different pronunciations, you could continue
to say it incorrectly until someone does.
Luckily, when it comes to writing, you don’t need to worry about how a word
is pronounced, you only need to worry about using it correctly.
I put down my bow and took a bow.
In this example, to identify what is what with these two homographs, you
need to see which word is the noun and which word is the verb. The first bow
is a noun, which we can see because it has the possessive word my before it.
This bow means a violin bow that is used to play the instrument. It could also
be a bow and arrow but because the rest of the sentence is about bowing to
an audience, you can assume it is talking about the instrument and not a
weapon! The second bow is about bending your back to accept
congratulations from an audience. 
When I graduate I will become a graduate.
This example is very useful as it demonstrates how a verb and a noun of the

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same word route are pronounced differently. In this sentence, the first