# Arabic homonyms



## kifaru

Are there any? I was wondering because I was listening to a friend recently and he said "طـَبْعا" or "of course" but what I heard was " تعبان", "I'm tired". I'm not sure if this is my poor hearing or his poor pronunciation.


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## elroy

طبعًا and تعبان are definitely not homonyms. The "t" sounds are different, and so are the lengths of the vowels. 

Are there homonyms in Arabic? Good question. Spontaneously, I would say there are none, because Arabic writing is highly phonetic; that is, the writing reflects the pronunciation so there can't really be words that are spelled differently but pronounced the same.


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## Anatoli

> Two words are homonyms if they are pronounced or *spelled *the same way but have different meanings.



One example (not the best, since these words have the same etymology): bug - 1) insect; 2) a small hidden microphone, etc.

I am sure there are homonyms in Arabic. We probably can consider _homonyms _(but not _homophones_) words that are spelled the same, have a different meaning, although they may be pronounced differently - e.g. من - min (from), man (who). I don't know any complete homonyms, though.


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## abusaf

> من - min (from), man (who)



But it's not spelled the same when voweled.

I don't really know what homonyms are, but if we went by Anatolis definition, then one example could be:

سائل = Liquid

سائل = Asker (i.e someone who asks, فاعل of سأل )


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## Anatoli

Thanks, Abusaf. That's why I didn't call them complete homonyms (man and min). Not sure if *bow* [bau] (bending your head) and *bow* [bou] (a weapon) are also considered homonyms, according to the definition, yes, it matches one part of "or".

Are these words pronounced the same, could you provide the vowels or transliteration, please?


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## MarcB

homonym-one of two or more words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning.
_homophone-_one of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling


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## Abu Bishr

These are some Arabic homonyms I can think of:

مَدِيْنَة (city) - مَدِيْنَة (indebted to fem.)
أسْمَاء (names) - أسْمَاء (female name orig. وسْمَاء from وسامة )
هَاوٍ (lover) - هَاوٍ (falling)
قَائِل (s.o. saying s.th.) - قائل (s.o. taking midday nap from قال - يقيل - قيلولة)
هَبْ (imperative of either وَهَبَ "to give" or هابَ "to fear")
نَدْمَان (s.o. who feels remorse or a drinking companion)
حَسَّان (from حسُن on pattern of فَعَّال or from حسَّ on pattern of فعلان )
فِيْ (prep. or fem. imperative of وفى )
عَلى (prep) and عَلاَ (verb "to be elevated, exalted, raised")
جِنَّة (possession or Jinn)
درَس (to study, learn) or (to wipe out, efface traces as in ruins)
تالٍ (following) or (s.o. reading or chanting the Quran for example)
سهل (easy or flat & smooth plain)
أهْل (family or deserving of, qualified to)

There should be many other homonyms. I think some books have been written on it with headings such as: ائتلاف اللفظ واختلاف المعنى or المؤتلف والمختلف في اللغة العربية .

[Edit:]
Hi Guys

It just came to mind that the homonym has been dealt with by the classical scholars under the heading of اللفظ المشترك and forms a big part of Quranic hermeneutics. The classical example for a homonym is the word "عين" which can mean عين باصرة (the eye that you see with) and عين جارية (the eye that gushes forth i.e. a spring) or sometimes the example عين باكية (an eye crying or weeping) instead of عين جارية due to what flows from each i.e. water or tears.

Classically, a homonym was defined as word that has been coined on different occasions to mean different things. This is to preclude the metaphorical use of the word. Thus, the word أسد (lion) even though you could use it to refer to someone brave and courageous, it is not regarded as a homonym - classically speaking - since it was not coined a second time to refer to someone brave or courageous.


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## cherine

Abu Bishr said:


> It just came to mind that the homonym has been dealt with by the classical scholars under the heading of اللفظ المشترك and forms a big part of Quranic hermeneutics.


I think it's المشترك اللفظي , and it's not only important in the Quranic studies but in all the Arabic literature.
There's another word for it : الجناس al-jinaas, there are two types of jinaas (in both way, the words have different meanings) :
- al-jinaas at-taam الجناس التام : where two words are written exactly the same way
example (taken from Abu Bishr ) : سائل - مدينة ....
Another example : one that I've seen once written on a car 
يقيني بالله يقيني yaqiini billahi yaqiini
it means : my faith in God protects me.
- al-jinaas an-naaqiS الجناس الناقص : when there's a difference in there spelling or in their vowelization
example : الحُزْن - الحَزَن : al-7uzn=sadness, al-7azan= fear, awe.
(see, even a little difference in vowelization makes it a jinaas naaqiS).

I also found a _great_ book about this phenomenon, its title is : اتفاق المباني وافتراق المعاني (which I can't really translate, but it means : when spelling is the same and the meanings are different), the author is الدقيقي (you can read the book on this great site)* It's in the category of اللغة ومعاجمها , sub-category: فقه اللغة (A must read for anyone who's interested in this fascinating subject).

* Sorry I couldn't put a direct link to the book, you have to subscribe -for free- in that site in order to read any book.

[Edit:]
Guys, this is really fascinating!
Imagine that a single change in a vowel can change the meaning of the word. Here's something from that book :


> عن الشيخ أبي محمد عبد الله بن مسلم بن قتيبة الدينوري رضي الله عنهم قال: وللعرب الإعراب الذي جعله الله وشيا لكلامها وحلية لنظامها وفارقا في بعض الأحوال بين الكلامين المتكافئين والمعنيين المختلفين كالفاعل والمفعول به ولا يفرق بينهما إذا تساوت حالتهما في إمكان الفعل أن يكون لكل واحد منهما إلا بالإعراب ولو أن قائلا قال: هذا قاتلٌ أخي بالتنوين دل على أنه لم يقتله ودل حذف التنوين على أنه قد قتله.​


The part in blue says that the difference between :
hadha qaatilun akhi : this is the guy who's going to kill my brother.
hadha qaatilu akhi : this is the guy who killed my brother.
Can you believe this ?!

Well, those little, too fine differences are not very noticed by today's speakers, but it's really amazing this richness of the language 
Allez dire que les "case endings" don't count


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## Josh_

It occurred to me that, due of the nature of colloquial vocal patterns, homonyms appear in colloquial, and maybe even more so, or at least differently, than in MSA.  I will only speak for Egyptian Arabic, but I imagine examples can be found in other dialects.

Just a few examples:

ألم and قلم (pain and pen) both pronounced "2alam." 

جواز and زواج (permit and marriage) both pronounced "gawaaz."

ذم and زم ("to speak ill of" and "to press together") both prononced "zamm."


With regards to homonyms in MSA I was looking for something else and came across a quite interesting book that immediately reminded me of this thread -- "A Dictionary of Arabic Homonyms" by Abdul Halim M. Qunbus.  Since we can't link to commercial sites, if anyone is interested in it PM and I will provide the link where I saw it.


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## Josh_

Hi guys,

I love reference materials, and so I bought that antonym dictionary that I saw (called معجم الألفاظ المشتركة  in Arabic) and I wanted to share a few entries with you guys to see what you thought -- if the entries make sense or if the author is reaching.  The dictionary is organized by root with the words underneath followed by a short explanation.


البَرُّ : جِلاف البحر معروف -​ البَرُّ : الصادق – تقول : إنك بَرٌّ أَمينٌ​ البَرُّ : المنفق -​ البَرُّ : الرحيم​ ​ المِقْدار : المقياس -​ المِقْدار : القوّة -​ المِقْدار : الموْت –​ ​ الأَرْضُ : هي التي تعيش عليها الناس​ الأَرْضُ : الزُكامُ – قال الشاعر: وقالوا:أنتْ أرْضٌ به وتَحَيَّلتْ فأَمْسى لما  في الصَدْرِ والرَأْسِ شاكيا -​ الأَرْضُ : دويبة صغيرة تأكل الخشب–​ ​ الحِسُ : الشعور بالشيء -​ الحِسُ : الصوت الخفي -​ الحِسُ : وجع يصيب المرأة بعد الولادة -​ الحِسُ : الشر -
​​


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## cherine

Interesting, Josh  I have only one remark to make : some of the meaning are not commonly known, if known at all. I'll mark those in Red, not because they're wrong, but because they wouldn't occur to the mind of the average Arabic speaker.

البَرُّ : جِلاف البحر معروف - 
البَرُّ : الصادق – تقول : إنك بَرٌّ أَمينٌ
البَرُّ : المنفق - 
البَرُّ : الرحيم

المِقْدار : المقياس - 
المِقْدار : القوّة - 
المِقْدار : الموْت – 


الأَرْضُ : هي التي تعيش عليها الناس

الأَرْضُ : الزُكامُ – قال الشاعر: وقالوا:أنتْ أرْضٌ به وتَحَيَّلتْ فأَمْسى لما في الصَدْرِ والرَأْسِ شاكيا - 
الأَرْضُ : دويبة صغيرة تأكل الخشب– 
- الكلمة الشائعة بهذا المعنى (معنى الدويبة) هو الأرضة.

الحِسُ : الشعور بالشيء - 
الحِسُ : الصوت الخفي - 
الحِسُ : وجع يصيب المرأة بعد الولادة - 
الحِسُ : الشر -
​


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## Malki92

Hello,

Is the word "illiterate" and "my mother" a homonym in Arabic? 

أمي​


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## Hemza

One example came to my mind after hearing my Egyptian friend: باجي (bagi) which means "I come". In some other dialects like Hijazi (and other Arabian ones) and some Maghrebi dialects, باقي (baagi) means "the rest, what is left".

I guess the ج vs ق (g) occurs in other words/expressions but I have no one in mind now.

ماشي which works like the French "ça marche" (ok) but is also the negation in some Moroccan/Algerian/Yemeni dialects and in Morocco, is also the mark of the future for few dialects.

Another one, عود which is either the instrument of music or in some Maghrebi dialects, refers to horses (عدو in Standard Arabic which refers to the gallop)


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## fdb

shaliach said:


> Is the word "illiterate" and "my mother" a homonym in Arabic?
> أمي​



ʼummiyyun and ʼummī are not homonyms.


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## elroy

fdb said:


> ʼummiyyun and ʼummī are not homonyms.


 I think it's pretty obvious Malki (who is not a beginner in Arabic) was not thinking of the inflected version of "illiterate."

Nevertheless, even without the inflection they're not perfect homonyms, because they differ in stress and the shape of the second syllable.

_ummíyy_ "illiterate"
vs.
_úmmi_ "my mother" [The final vowel is typically shortened, as we've discussed previously.]

That said, in casual pronunciation many Arabs would pronounce both "ummi," so I understand why shaliach asked.


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## djara

cherine said:


> الحِسُ : وجع يصيب المرأة بعد الولادة


مستعمل في اللهجة التونسية بمعنى آلام المخاض


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## Malki92

How about مكتوب? 

1) It is written. 
2) It's predestined. (Maybe this is still the meaning of written, but in a metaphorical sense) 
3) Letter.


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## Ihsiin

It may be of interest in this thread that there are a number of forms of Iraqi poetry that make use of homophones, namely the _abuδiyya_, the _maymar _and the _mawāl_. One example, which as it happens can be found in my signature, goes thusly:

دحوك بثوب حسنك وانسجنه
بجهنم حبك أرضى وأنسى جنة
انحبسنا بقفص عينك وانسجنا
وتحط رمشك كلبچات بيديّ



shaliach said:


> How about مكتوب?
> 
> 1) It is written.
> 2) It's predestined. (Maybe this is still the meaning of written, but in a metaphorical sense)
> 3) Letter.



I wouldn't consider this to be homonymous/homophonous. They are variant meanings of the same word, not different words.


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## nickcage

ذهب
"Gold" and "he went"


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## Saley

The most interesting kind of homonymy in any language, I believe, is when several words that sound alike have different morphological structures. Some great examples has already been mentioned; I’ll supply them with morphological information:

مَدينة *‎1.* ‘city’ (root مدن, pattern فَعيلة); *2.* ‘indebted (fem.)’ (root دين, pattern مَفْعول, suffix ة)
هَبْ *‎1.* ‘give!’ (root وهب, pattern *افعَلْ ‎> عَلْ); *2.* ‘fear!’ (root هيب, pattern *افعَلْ ‎> فَلْ)
يَقيني *‎1.* ‘my faith’ (root يقن, pattern فَعيل, suffix ي); *2.* ‘protects me’ (root وقي, pattern يَفعِلُ, suffix ني)
I found one class of homonyms by myself where the initial س of the root (1) can be confused as belonging to the استَـ prefix added to a verb with a hollow root (2, 3) whose medial glide disappears before a consonant-initial ending:

استَلَمْتُ *‎1.* ‘I touched’ (root سلم, pattern افتَعَلْتُ); *2.* ‘I deserved blame’ (root لوم, pattern استَفعَلْتُ)
استَعَرْتُ *‎1.* ‘I burned’ (root سعر, pattern افتَعَلْتُ); *2.* ‘I borrowed’ (root عور, pattern استَفعَلْتُ)
استَمَلْتُ *‎1.* ‘I gouged’ (root سمل, pattern افتَعَلْتُ); *2.* ‘I became rich’ (root مول, pattern استَفعَلْتُ); *3.* ‘I attracted’ (root ميل, pattern استَفعَلْتُ)
From a general perspective, knowing existing Arabic patterns without knowing existing lexical roots (as is the case for a learner whose vocabulary is small), many words can be given several different parsings, i.e. decompositions into ‘root’ and pattern. If, given two such decompositions of the same word, both extracted ‘roots’ happen to exist in the language, then we’re dealing with true homonyms*, like in all examples above or in this one:

لم يَرْتَعْ *‎1.* ‘did not graze’ (root رتع, pattern يَفعَلْ); *2.* ‘was not frightened’ (root روع, pattern يَفتَعِلْ)
But if a putative ‘root’ doesn’t actually exist (is meaningless), then the decomposition of this particular word is wrong. This leads to a difficulty when, among the words of similar shape, some belong to one pattern and others to another, and which one is correct in each case can be decided only based on the knowledge of actual roots. Compare, for example:

إلاهة ‘goddess’ (root ءله, pattern فِعال, suffix ة)
إفاضة ‘exhaustiveness’ (root فيض, pattern *إفعال ‎> إفالة)
Although these two nouns have identical surface forms modulo consonant values, إلاهة is not a _maṣdar_ on the ‘root’ لوه or ليه and إفاضة is not a فِعالة noun with the ‘root’ ءفض, because such ‘roots’ don’t exist. These words are not homonyms proper, but the class to which they belong can be considered ambiguous.

Concerning Arabic _homographs_ (spelled alike, pronounced differently), I think too that the most interesting are those with different structure (and not those with just different vocalizations, which are countless). In one class of homographs the article ال can be confused with a part of word, for example:

التمام *‎1.* _iltimaam_ ‘gathering’ (root لمم, pattern افتِعال); *2.* _at-tamaam_ ‘the completeness’ (article ال, root تمم, pattern فَعال)
والدين *‎1.* _waalidayn_ ‘parents (gen./acc.)’ (root ولد, pattern فاعِل); *2.* _wa-d-diin_ ‘and the religion’ (conjunction و, article ال, root دين, pattern فِعْل)
There is an article in English dealing with Arabic homonyms and homographs, but examples of my favorite kind it provides are scanty. Whenever you find an interesting homonymous pair or class of words, I’d be pleased to learn them from you. 

* It isn’t always true: while the verb آتى can actually be of the pattern فاعَلَ (pres. يؤاتي) as well as أفعَلَ (pres. يؤتي), both from the root ءتي, i.e. there are two homonyms, the verb آثر is, on the contrary, only of the pattern أفعَلَ with the root ءثر, although an analysis of it having the pattern فاعَلَ would yield the same existing root.


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## Mahaodeh

If you're interested in these types of homonyms in dialects you have in Palestinian Arabic:
فار _faar_ 1. 'it/he boiled' (root فور, pattern فَعَلَ) 2. 'mouse' (MSA فَأر, root فءر, pattern فَعْل)
شَبّ _shabb_ 1. 'alum' (root شبب, pattern فَعْل) 2. 'youth/young man' (MSA شاب, root شبب, pattern distorted originally فاعل)
أمر _Amar_ 1. 'moon' in urban dialects (root قمر, pattern فَعَل) 2. 'he ordered' (root ءمر, pattern فَعَلَ)
جِبْنَة _jibbneh_ 1. 'cheese' (root جبن, pattern فِعْلَة) 2. 'we brought' (root جيب, pattern فَعَل + نا) a slight difference in the pronunciation of the final vowel.
جَلي _jali_ 1. 'washing up' for dishes specifically (root جلي, pattern فَعِل) 2. 'jelly' the sweet that goes in trifle (from English jelly)
كل _kull_ 1. 'eat' (root ءكل, pattern عُل) 2. 'all' (not sure if it even has a root, maybe كلل?)
مُر _murr_ 1. 'pass by' (root مرر, pattern فُل) 2. 'bitter' (root مرر, pattern فَعْل)
كمان _kamaan_ 1. 'more' (distortion of كما أن) 2. 'violin' (not of Arabic origin)

And in Iraqi Arabic:
جَنَّة _janneh_ 1. 'heaven' (root جنن, pattern فَعْلَة) 2. 'they came to us' fem. (MSA جئننا, root جيء, pattern distorted, originally فعلننا)
هواي _hwaai_ 1. 'my love' (MSA hawaaia, root هوي, pattern فَعْلي) 2. 'a lot/many/much' (I don't know the origin)
عَمود _Amood_ 1. 'column' (root عمد, pattern فَعول) 2. 'because/for this reason' (origin not clear but _possibly_ على + English mood)
عَمَامَة _Amaameh_ 1. 'turban' (root عمم, pattern فَعَالَة) 2. 'his uncles' (MSA أعْمَامَهُ, root عمم, pattern أفْعَالَهُ)
حِنّة _Hinneh_ 1. 'henna' (root حنن, pattern فِعْلَة) 2. 'we' (MSA نحن) mostly in southern dialects
يوم _youm_ 1. 'day' (root يوم, pattern فعل) 2. 'mother' (MSA يا أمي, root أمم, pattern distorted)
جنّة _channeh_ 1. 'daughter-in-law' (MSA كنّة, root كنن, pattern فَعْلَة) 2. originally from MSA كَأَنَّه


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## Hemza

I'm thinking about two words but I'm not sure if they're really homonyms. It's because my Egyptian friend confused both that it occured to my mind that they may be:

حس related to "feeling" and حس related to "sound, noise". I was talking about the latter word meaning but my friend confused it with the former.



Mahaodeh said:


> كمان _kamaan_ 1. 'more' (distortion of كما أن) 2. '*violin*' (not of Arabic origin)



كمنجة is used in Morocco. I think both words (for violin) have been borrowed from Persian (and may be originally from another language but I have no idea which one).



> And in Iraqi Arabic:
> عَمود _Amood_ 1. 'column' (root عمد, pattern فَعول) 2. '*because/for this reason*' (origin not clear but _possibly_ على + English mood)



In Morocco, على ود (beside other expressions) is used in this same way. May be the م had been added for whatever reason? A contraction of على ما ود?


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## fdb

Hemza said:


> كمنجة is used in Morocco. I think both words (for violin) have been borrowed from Persian (and may be originally from another language but I have no idea which one).



kamān means “bow” in Persian. The diminutive kamānča is a stringed musical instrument. The word entered Moroccan Arabic through Turkish.


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## Hemza

Thanks, I didn't know that .


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## elroy

Great examples, Maha!  As usual, our experiences with Palestinian Arabic are somewhat divergent. 

شَبّ meaning "alum"?  As in a university graduate?  I've never heard this before.  I would use خرّيج.
For me, the vowel difference between جبنة and جبنا is significant.  Definitely not homonyms for me! 
For me, "jelly" is جِلي، بكسر الجيم, so these are also not homonyms for me either.
I don't think I've ever heard مُرّ for "pass by" in Palestinian Arabic.  I say أُمْرُؤ, and I've also heard أُعْبُر.


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## Mahaodeh

Hemza said:


> In Morocco, على ود (beside other expressions) is used in this same way. May be the م had been added for whatever reason? A contraction of على ما ود?


Hmm, I've never heard this before, but it seems to make more sense than the 'mood' theory!


elroy said:


> شَبّ meaning "alum"? As in a university graduate? I've never heard this before. I would use خرّيج.


No, I mean the crystal-like rock that is easily crushed, used to purify rainwater for drinking in the 'olden days'. At least this is what my grandmother told me they do with it! I was born with running tap water . It's probably dying out because no one drinks rainwater any more. They used it in Iraq too but they called it شبّة in the feminine.


elroy said:


> For me, the vowel difference between جبنة and جبنا is significant. Definitely not homonyms for me!


Yes, this was a long-shot, but we can say that it's جناس ناقص


elroy said:


> For me, "jelly" is جِلي، بكسر الجيم, so these are also not homonyms for me either.


Really? Maybe that's because I know how it's pronounced in English so I always hear it with a فتحة. I'll pay attention next time.


elroy said:


> I don't think I've ever heard مُرّ for "pass by" in Palestinian Arabic. I say أُمْرُؤ, and I've also heard أُعْبُر.


Now that you mention it, this might be an effect of Jordanian rural dialects on Amman where it's as common as أمرق and ميِّل. I don't recall أُعْبُر though.


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## elroy

Mahaodeh said:


> Now that you mention it, this might be an effect of Jordanian rural dialects on Amman where it's as common as أمرق and ميِّل. I don't recall أُعْبُر though.


 أُعْبُر = literally pass by, or pass through
ميِّل = figuratively pass by (i.e. stop by, drop by, come by)
أُمْرُؤ can mean either one.


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## Mahaodeh

elroy said:


> أُعْبُر = literally pass by, or pass through


Oh, I was thinking: مرّ/ميّل على الدكانة هاتلنا خبز وانت جاي and not أعبر الدكانة بتحصل الخباز بعدها عطول!
You're right, I have heard it


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## Saley

One more ambiguous class* (in the sense described in my previous message) came to my mind today. It comprises words of the shape _*CaCCii*_ or _*CuCCii*_ where the first consonant is one of ء‎ ت‎ ن‎ ي. Such a word can be parsed as either the present tense of a final-weak verb (measures فَعَلَ or أفعَلَ) or a noun (فَعْل or فُعْل) with the possessive ي. This class happens to contain a large number of true homonyms; here is a representative selection of them:

أَنفي *‎1.* I reject (نفى) *2.* my nose (أنف)
تَبري *‎1.* you trim (برى) *2.* my destroying (تبر)
نَهدي *‎1.* we lead (هدى) *2.* my breast (نهد)
يَقني *‎1.* he gains (قنى) *2.* my certitude (يقن)
أُسدي *‎1.* I perform (أَسدى, root سدي) *2.* my lions (أسد)
تُرسي *‎1.* we fix (أَرسى, root رسو) *2.* my shield (ترس)
نُبلي *‎1.* we test (أَبلى, root بلو) *2.* my nobleness (نبل)
يُسري *‎1.* he travels by night (أَسرى, root سري) *2.* my wealth (يسر)
As a bonus, when compiling the list, I found a homonymous pair of another, though similar, kind:

نُعمى *‎1.* we are blindfolded (أَعمى, passive voice, root عمي) *2.* happiness (root نعم)
* I mean [_one more_] [_ambiguous class_], not [_one_] [_more ambiguous_] [_class_].


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