What is the word for a word that is like another word?

Answer 1

That depends on what you mean by "like".

• Words are SYNONYMS if they mean the same, like sea and ocean.
• Words are HOMOPHONES or HOMONYMS if they are spelled the same or sound the same as another, but have different meanings, like sea and see, or rock (hard mineral) and rock (to move gently to and fro.)
• And a HOMOGRAPH is another name for a word that is spelled the same as another word but which has a different meaning -such as saw, the past tense of see, and saw, a tool for cutting wood.

[Strictly speaking, a HOMOPHONE is a word that sounds the same as another but has a different meaning, origin or spelling, whereas the word HOMONYM refers to a word that has a different meaning to another, regardless of its sound or spelling.]