recede, reseed

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

The answer is simple: recede, reseed are homophones of the English language.

recede
  1. :: verb-intransitive

    To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark: waited for the floodwaters to recede.

  2. :: verb-intransitive

    To slope backward.

  3. :: verb-intransitive

    To become or seem to become fainter or more distant: Eventually, my unhappy memories of the place receded.

  4. :: verb-intransitive

    To withdraw or retreat.

reseed
  1. :: verb

    To sow seeds again; to resow or replant.

  2. :: verb

    Of a non-perennial plant, to produce seeds to ensure the following generation without human intervention; to self-sow.

  3. :: verb

    To reset the input of an algorithm so as to ensure different results.

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").