graduation exercise vs commencement ceremony

graduation exercise and commencement ceremony both are nouns.

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

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

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

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

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