English is a funny language. Not sure if it is funnier than some or most, but it is certainly funny. (I only speak one other, so I reserve the right to be wrong.)
Years ago I wrote a thank-you note to a number of friends who had graced me with a present of their presence at a dinner my college roommate (Hi, Alex!) had hosted. I thanked them "for their presents of presence" and even though all were (and presumably still are) very literate, I was soundly chastised for using the wrong word ("presents" vs presence" or vice versa) or writing a poorly-constructed sentence.
I was reminded of that event today when calling a doctor for an appointment. Their voice response unit kindly informed me that they were all busy at the moment and then thanked "their patients for their patience".
Astute readers will recognize these pairs (presents/presence and patients/patience) as homophones because they sound the same regardless of their spelling. And they are also heterographs because they sound the same and are spelled differently.
What I didn't know is that they are also (and this appears to be debatable), polysemes because they have related meanings.
If you'd like to explore this even more, be sure to check out the differences between terms on Wikipedia's Homonym page.
Some day I'd like to know why words weren't this much fun in high school or college.
