Distinguish between homonyms & potential form

Question

How can you distinguish two verbs when the dictionary form of one is exactly the same as the "potential" form of another. E.g:

• 開く　 [Godan verb with ku ending, intransitive verb]　(Potential form: 開ける)

• 開ける [Ichidan verb, Transitive verb] (Potential form: 開けられる)

As I understand it, both are related to opening something so they'd be used in similar contexts, & both in "masu" form (with 開く firstly put into potential form) would be "開けます". In this case 開ける is transitive & 開く intransitive, so they'd differ by を or が respectively when used in a sentence; however, I can imagine that this isn't always the case.

Would you be able to consistently tell the difference by particle used? Is this just a case where it comes down to context / homonyms? Or am I fundamentally misunderstanding something?

Edit 1: Didn't realise that the kanji I picked actually related to two different sets of words where the above applies;「あく」&「あける」as well as「ひらく」&「ひらける」. I'm getting the feeling, looking at some of these cases, that it'll just be contextual + memorisation, and sometimes it could actually just be both & it's up to the speaker / listener to clarify; if anyone has tips though, I'd be happy to hear them.

Edit 2: Just came across: Potential form vs Intransitive Verbs, but I don't feel like the answer really squares. The example I gave seems to line up with the example the asker there gave, except「あける」is both the potential form of「あく」, and also an intransitive verb. Conversely, both「ひらける」and「ひらく」can be intransitive (according to the dictionary I'm looking at).

Answer 1

Would you be able to consistently tell the difference by particle used?

The short answer is no. Sometimes it is impossible to tell the correct reading without thinking of the context. 開く/開ける is exceptionally complex, but there are some other confusing kanji which has more than one kun-reading, for example, 辛い（からい・つらい）, 汚れる（よごれる・けがれる）, 怒る（おこる・いかる）, 弾く（ひく・はじく） and 被る（かぶる・こうむる）. You have to learn the appropriate reading from examples.

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Here is the list of potential readings and meanings of 開く/開ける.

開く

• あく (intransitive) to open

  ドアがあく。店があく。

• ひらく (intransitive) to open; (transitive) to open something

  ドアがひらく。ドアをひらく。店がひらく。店をひらく。

開ける

• あける (transitive) to open something

  ドアをあける。店をあける。

• ひらける (potential-form of transitive ひらく) can open something

  店をひらけるほどの服がある。

• ひらける (intransitive) to spread out; to become clear/vast

  視界がひらける。家がひらけた土地に建っている。