rheumy, roomie, roomy

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

The answer is simple: rheumy, roomie, roomy are homophones of the English language.

rheumy
  1. :: adjective

    of, relating to, or producing rheum from the mucous membranes; watery

roomie
  1. :: noun

    Informal A roommate.

roomy
  1. :: adjective

    Having plenty of room; spacious. See Synonyms at spacious.

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