The words world, world sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Why do world, world sound the same even though they are completely different words?
The answer is simple: world, world are homophones of the English language.
The earth, especially together with the life it supports.
The universe.
The earth, especially together with the life it supports.
The universe.
Definitions from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition. and Wordnik.
Homophones (literally "same sound") are usually defined as words that share the same pronunciation, regardless of how they are spelled.
If they are spelled the same then they are also homographs (and homonyms); if they are spelled differently then they are also heterographs (literally "different writing").