Analysis of English Homonyms' Pun Rhetorical Effect

In learning and teaching, we often meet many English words having the same forms but having different meanings, which are called homonyms. Homonyms are very rich in English. The use of homonyms as a kind of rhetorical means, namely "pun", can make humor, strengthen the irony, and express more profound implication between the lines. Understanding and analyzing these words can offer great help in mastering and using of English vocabulary, and knowing the history of English. This paper gives an analysis to homonyms as a language phenomenon and pun as a rhetorical device, and then combine them together for their rhetorical effect.