AR-15: Short for "Armalite Rifle, model 15." A lightweight, semi-automatic rifle based off of Eugene Stoner's AR-10, created by Armalite in the 1950s. Colt acquired the AR-15 trademark shortly thereafter. Nowadays AR-15 is a catchall term for a semi-automatic .223/5.56 "black" rifle, usually with certain features (stock, pistol grip, detachable 30-round magazine), easily obtainable "over the counter" by civilians (where applicable), made by a wide variety of manufacturers.
M-16: An AR-15 variant; a select-fire (automatic or burst in addition to semi-auto) rifle used by the military. M-16 usually entails 20" barrel and rifle-length gas system, fixed length stock, and carry handle upper, but the modularity of the AR-15 platform means it could look different.
M-4: Another AR-15 variant, also select-fire, also military. Carbine-length gas system and shorter (14.5") barrel, so less overall length than an M16. One of the base rifles for the SOPMOD system, which means an M4 will usually have lots of rails and all kinds of tactical things attached to them.
*Note: Civilian enthusiasts will often build AR-15s as "clones" of certain military rifles. For example, it is easy for a civilian in most states to obtain an AR-15 with 14.5" barrel and carbine-length gas system and dress it up to look like an M4 (popularly called an "M4-gery") - with the exception of the inability to shoot full-auto, it will be very close in look and function. Likewise it is easy to obtain Vietnam-era parts and make an AR-15 look like an old-school M16A1, and likewise it will function more or less identically to the military's version with the exception of automatic fire.
Assault Rifle: An umbrella term that encompasses many, many rifles. Translation of the German "sturmgewehr," as in the WW2-era Sturmgewehr44 rifle. Broadly, an assault rifle is: (1) select fire (can fire automatically); (2) intermediate cartridge (bigger than a pistol cartridge, smaller than a "battle rifle" cartridge like .308 or 30-06); and (3) uses a detachable magazine.
So an AR-15 checks two of the three assault rifle boxes - it uses detachable mags and fires an intermediate cartridge, but it is not capable of full-auto. While an AR-15 may look like an assault rifle - indeed, its owner may make a conscious effort to have it look as much like an assault rifle as possible - it is not a true assault rifle.
Assault Weapon: A legal term that means whatever the legislature who wrote the law wishes it to mean. "Assault weapon" legislation usually is intended to control the purchase, possession and use of AR-15s, but broad wording and lack of understanding sometimes result in certain .22 rifles, shotguns, or pistols legally becoming "assault weapons." Not all states define "assault weapons" and those who do often define it differently from other states.
Here's a couple more:
A clip and a magazine both hold cartridges. The difference between the two is that a magazine has things like springs and followers that move the cartridges into the chamber, and a clip does not. A clip, then, can be just a piece of metal that holds the ends of the cartridges.
A bullet is the projectile that exits the gun when you pull the trigger. A cartridge includes the bullet - it also includes the case, primer, and the explosive bits that make the bullet go. The thing you put into the gun is a cartridge, and what comes out of the barrel is the bullet.
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