A pun is not always meant to be humorous, but it is meant to be a clever play on words.

1. A pun, or paronomasia, is a form of word play that deliberately exploits ambiguity between similar-sounding words for humourous or rhetorical effect. Punning has been used by writers such as Alexander Pope, James Joyce, Vladimir Nabokov, William Shakespeare ( who is estimated to have used over 3,000 puns in his plays ), John Donne and Lewis Carroll. Example: The 4 th word uses a pun on the word ‘punny’ standing out for funny