spiel, speel

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

The answer is simple: spiel, speel are homophones of the English language.

speel
  1. :: noun

    A splinter; a strip of wood or metal.

  2. :: noun

    A story; a spiel.

  3. :: verb

    To climb.

  4. :: verb

    To talk at length, to spiel.

spiel
  1. :: noun

    A lengthy or extravagant speech or argument usually intended to persuade.

  2. :: verb-transitive

    To talk or say (something) at length or extravagantly.

Definitions from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License, from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition and Wordnik.

Share spiel, speel

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").