HOMONYMS

English vocabulary is rich in such pairs and even groups of words. Their identical forms are mostly accidental: the majority of homonyms coincided due to phonetic changes which they suffered during their development.
If synonyms and antonyms can be regarded as the treasury of the language\'s expressive resources, homonyms are of no interest in this respect, and one cannot expect them to be of particular value for communication. Metaphorically speaking, groups of synonyms and pairs of antonyms are created by the vocabulary system with a particular purpose whereas homonyms are accidental creations, and therefore purposeless.
In the process of communication they are more of an encumbrance, leading sometimes to confusion and misunderstanding. Yet it is this very characteristic which makes them one of the most important sources of popular humour.
The pun is a joke based upon the play upon words of similar form but different meaning (i. e. on homonyms) as in the following:
\"A tailor guarantees to give each of his customers a perfect fit.\"
(The joke is based on the homonyms: I. fit, n. — perfectly fitting clothes; II. fit, n. — a nervous spasm.)
Homonyms can appear in the language not only as the result of the split of polysemy, but also as the result of levelling of grammar inflexions, when different parts of speech become identical in their outer aspect, e.g. \"care\" from \"caru\" and \"care\" from \"carian\". They can be also formed by means of conversion, e.g. \"to slim\" from \"slim\", \"to water\" from \"water\". They can be formed with the help of the same suffix from the same stem, e.g. \"reader\"/ a person who reads and a book for reading/.
Homonyms can also appear

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