commencement exercise vs commencement ceremony

commencement exercise and commencement ceremony both are nouns.

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

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

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

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

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