commencement ceremony vs commencement exercise

commencement ceremony and commencement exercise both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
commencement ceremony	Yes	No	No	No
commencement exercise	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, commencement ceremony and commencement exercise are synonyms defined as:

commencement ceremony and commencement exercise: an academic exercise in which diplomas are conferred

Other synonyms of commencement ceremony include commencement, graduation, graduation exercise.

commencement ceremony (noun)	commencement exercise (noun)
an academic exercise in which diplomas are conferred	an academic exercise in which diplomas are conferred