English words whose meaning is changed
by a difference in stress accent

"Combat" If you accent it on COM, it's a noun. If you accent it on BAT, it's a verb.
Here are additional examples of words which change from noun to verb because of the position of their accent.
If you accent the wrong syllable, you may not be understood.
The noun is accented on the first syllable; the verb on the second syllable.
Some people don't follow these rules. This adds greatly to the confusion.
We will add to these as we encounter more.

Noun	Verb
ABstract	abstRACT
ACcent	acCENT
ADdict	adDICT
ADdress	adDRESS
ANnex	anNEX
ALly	alLY
ATtribute	atTRIBute
COMbat	comBAT
COMmune	comMUNE
COMpact	comPACT
COMpound	comPOUND
COMpress	comPRESS
CONduct	conDUCT
CONfines	conFINES
CONflict	conFLICT
CONscript	conSCRIPT
CONsort	conSORT
CONtract	conTRACT
CONtrast	conTRAST
CONverse	conVERSE
CONvert	conVERT
CONvict	conVICT
DEcrease	deCREASE
DEsert	deSERT
DEtail	deTAIL
DIScard	disCARD
DIScharge	disCHARGE
ENvelope	enVELope
EScort	esCORT
EXploit	exPLOIT
EXport	exPORT
EXtract	exTRACT
FInance	fiNANCE
FRAgment	fragMENT
IMpact	imPACT
IMprint	imPRINT
INcrease	inCREASE
INsert	inSERT
INsult	inSULT
MANdate	manDATE
OBject	obJECT
OVERcharge	overCHARGE
OVERwork	overWORK
PERmit	perMIT
PERvert	perVERT
PREfix	preFIX
PREsent	preSENT
PROceeds	proCEEDS
PROcess	proCESS
PROduce	proDUCE
PROgress	proGRESS
PROject	proJECT
PROtest	proTEST
RAMpage	ramPAGE
REBel	reBEL
REcap	reCAP
REcall	reCALL
REcord	reCORD
REfill	reFILL
REfund	reFUND
REfuse	refUSE
REject	reJECT
REplay	rePLAY
SUBject	subJECT
SURvey	surVEY
SUSpect	susPECT
TORment	torMENT
TRANSfer	transFER
TRANSplant	transPLANT
TRANSport	transPORT
UPset	upSET
Adjective	Verb
ABsent	abSENT
FREquent	freQUENT
PERfect	perFECT
Adjective	Noun
inVALid	INvalid
miNUTE	MInute
comPLEX	COMplex

If this isn't enough, there are words whose different meanings are distinguished by a change in sound of one of the letters. (Voicing).

Abuse, with the S sounding like S in See, is a noun.
Abuse, with the S sounding like Z in Zebra, is a verb.

Close, with the S sounding like S in See, is an adjective.
Close, with the S sounding like Z in Zebra, is a verb.

Excuse, with the S sounding like S in See, is a noun.
Excuse, with the S sounding like Z in Zebra, is a verb.

House, with the S sounding like S in See, is a noun.
House, with the S sounding like Z in Zebra, is a verb.

Use, with the S sounding like S in See, is a noun.
Use, with the S sounding like Z in Zebra, is a verb.

I used to smoke, with the S in used sounding like S in See, means "I smoked in the past. I don't now".
I used a hammer, with the S sounding like Z in Zebra, means "I did something by means of a hammer".

It gets worse. There are words which have different meanings shown by different pronunciations.

Advocate, rhyming with rate, is a verb
Advocate, rhyming with hit, is a noun

Approximate, rhyming with rate, is a verb
Approximate, rhyming with hit, is an adjective

Articulate, rhyming with rate, is a verb
Articulate, rhyming with hit, is an adjective and a noun

Associate, rhyming with rate, is a verb
Associate, rhyming with hit, is an adjective and a noun

Bass, with the a of cat, is a type of fish
Bass, with the a of face, means "with a low frequency tone"

Bow, with the o of bone, is used with a violin, also for shooting arrows
Bow, rhymes with cow, is a verb - what an actor does after a performance, what a dog does

Deliberate, rhyming with rate, is a verb
Deliberate, rhyming with hit, is an adjective

Does, rhymes with fuzz, is a verb
Does, rhymes with rose, = female deer

Dove, with the o of bone, is a verb, the past tense of dive
Dove, rhymes with love, = bird

Duplicate, rhyming with rate, is a verb
Duplicate, rhyming with hit, is an adjective and a noun

Elaborate, rhyming with rate, is a verb
Elaborate, rhyming with hit, is an adjective

Graduate, rhyming with rate, is a verb
Graduate, rhyming with hit, is a noun

Live, with the i of hit, is a verb
Live, with the i of five, is an adjective

Moderate, rhyming with rate, is a verb
Moderate, rhyming with hit, is an adjective

Polish, written with a capital P and the O sounding like O in bOne, is an adjective of nationality.
polish, written with a small p and the O sounding like O in hOt, is a verb or a noun.

Separate, rhyming with rate, is a verb
Separate, rhyming with hit, is an adjective

Tear, rhymes with where, is a verb
Tear, rhymes with near, is a noun

Wind, with the i of five, is a verb
Wind, with the i of hit, is a noun

Wound, with au of found, (ah-oo) is a verb
Wound, with the oo of food, is a noun

This is about word stress: noun, verb accented on the first syllable/last/second syllable.
English has noun / verb combinations distinguished only by stress accent.
They are distinguished by the position of word stress.
These are words with different accents.
The noun is stressed on the first syllable.
American English syllables have stress, word accent.
English has words with the same spelling: pairs of words, noun, verb.
The verb is stressed on the second syllable.
The English noun-verb stress contrast can be difficult for speakers of other languages.
English has noun / verb pairs distinguished by stress accent.
Nouns and verbs have a different accent. Nouns are accented on the first syllable,
verbs accented on the second syllable.
The same word has two meanings: the difference is one of stress accent: nouns are distinguished from verbs by this means: nouns are mostly accented on the first syllable, and verbs accented on the last.
Examples of words with the same spelling but different meaning.
Same word different stress different meanings
Same word, noun and verb, different accent
Nouns that change as verbs
Emphasis alters word meaning
There are words in English whose meaning changes with a change in stress
Sometimes called "initial stress derivation" verbs become nouns or adjectives when the stress is moved to the first syllable
Some words, for example, export, import, contract and object can be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress accent is on the first or second syllable.
Initial-stress-derived nouns. You pronounce them differently depending on whether they are a noun or verb.
Sometimes called a paronym These are words which alter their meaning when you change the syllabic emphasis.
Emphasize CONtract on the first syllable, and it's a noun. Emphasize conTRACT on the second syllable, and it's a verb.