rights, rites, wrights, writes

The words rights, rites, wrights, writes sound the same but have different meanings and spellings. Why do rights, rites, wrights, writes sound the same even though they are completely different words?

The answer is simple: rights, rites, wrights, writes are homophones of the English language.

rights
  1. :: noun

    Plural form of right.

  2. :: verb

    Third-person singular simple present indicative form of right.

rites
  1. :: noun

    Plural form of rite.

wrights
  1. :: noun

    Plural form of wright.

writes
  1. :: verb

    Third-person singular simple present indicative form of write.

Definitions from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License and Wordnik.

Share rights, rites, wrights, writes

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").