correspondence, correspondents

The words correspondence, correspondents sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Why do correspondence, correspondents sound the same even though they are completely different words?

The answer is simple: correspondence, correspondents are homophones of the English language.

correspondence
  1. :: noun

    The act, fact, or state of agreeing or conforming.

  2. :: noun

    Similarity or analogy.

  3. :: noun

    Communication by the exchange of letters.

  4. :: noun

    The letters written or received.

correspondents
  1. :: noun

    Plural form of correspondent.

Definitions from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition, from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License and Wordnik.

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About Homophones

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").