approach vs access

approach and access both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
approach	Yes	No	Yes	No
access	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, access is a hyponym of approach; that is, access is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than approach:

Other hyponyms of approach include closing, closure, landing approach, run-up.

As nouns, approach and access are synonyms defined as:

approach (noun)	access (noun)
the act of drawing spatially closer to something	the act of approaching or entering
a relatively short golf shot intended to put the ball onto the putting green	a way of entering or leaving
ideas or actions intended to deal with a problem or situation	(computer science) the operation of reading or writing stored information
a way of entering or leaving	the right to enter
the temporal property of becoming nearer in time	the right to obtain or make use of or take advantage of something (as services or membership)
a close approximation	a code (a series of characters or digits) that must be entered in some way (typed or dialed or spoken) to get the use of something (a telephone line or a computer or a local area network etc.)
a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others
the event of one object coming closer to another
the final path followed by an aircraft as it is landing

approach (verb)	access (verb)
make advances to someone, usually with a proposal or suggestion	reach or gain access to
move towards	obtain or retrieve from a storage device; as of information on a computer
come near in time
begin to deal with
come near or verge on, resemble, come nearer in quality, or character