Homographs, Homophones, and Homonyms #3, by Dennis Oliver

In yesterday's Hint we learned that homographs are words with the
same spelling, but different meanings, origins, or pronunciations.
In the Hint for two days ago, we learned that homophones are words
with the same pronunciation, but different spellings, meanings,
or origins.

What, then, are homonyms?

Answer: Some references say that homonyms are words with the
same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings (like top
meaning "highest surface," top meaning "a kind of spinning toy," and
top meaning "to be better or more than"). Other references use homonym
to mean both homographs and homophones. It's confusing!