Homophones in Chinese

Chinese has a high number of homophones. This means many words in Chinese have the same or a very similar pronunciation. For example:

chéng jì [成绩 ] (result, achievement, success) or chéng jì [承继] (to inherit), with exactly the same tones;
guǎn lǐ [管理 ](supervise), guàn lì [惯例] (attend a ritual), guān lǐ [观礼] (officer).

Learners of Chinese as second language know the rhyme „the Stone Lion“. This ryhme is composed only from the word „shi“ in different tone.

石室詩士施氏，嗜獅，誓食十獅。