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According to my dictionary, the following words all mean the same thing:
"Dinner":  
[夜]{よる}ご[飯]{はん}, [晩]{ばん}ご[飯]{はん}, [晩飯]{ばんめし}, [晩食]{ばんしょく}, [夕]{ゆう}ご[飯]{はん},
[夕飯]{ゆうはん(ゆうめし)}, [夕食]{ゆうしょく}

A similar thing goes for "Breakfast" ([朝]{あさ}ご[飯]{はん}, [朝飯]{あさめし},
[朝食]{ちょうしょく}) and "Lunch" ([昼]{ひる}ご[飯]{はん}, [昼飯]{ひるめし}, [昼食]{ちゅうしょく})

What's the difference between them? Are they mostly interchangeable? Which
ones are more commonly used or is it a matter of preference? etc.  
My current understanding is that the ones that end in ご飯 are politer.
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2012-11-26T14:55:29.910
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2012-11-26T16:52:58.380
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question
words word-choice food
Differences between the many words for dinner
In my experience...

The ones ending in `ご飯` are most polite. Actually, using them around friends
may get you some strange looks. The ones ending in `飯（めし）` seem very informal,
somewhat "rough", and mainly used by men. The ones ending in `食` seem to be
the most neutral and most widely-used.

However, they may regionally have different acceptance levels and/or usage
frequencies. I lived in Osaka, and there (as I mentioned), saying `晩飯` or `夕飯`
is a little bit "rough" and only used by men. This may be different in other
regions though.
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[夕・晩・夜] + [ご飯・飯・食]  
  

(1) ~~ + ご[飯]{はん}  
We have [夕]{ゆう}ご[飯]{はん}, [晩]{ばん}ご[飯]{はん}, [夜]{よる}ご[飯]{はん}.  
I don't see much difference among them. We (especially children and women) use
~~ご飯 most in daily conversation. I normally use 晩ご飯 and 夜ご飯, and I think my
mother uses 夕ご飯 too.  
  

(2) ~~ + [食]{しょく}  
We have [夕食]{ゆうしょく}. I didn't know [晩食]{ばんしょく} so I googled it, and I got some
30,000 results. It's less common so you wouldn't need to know 晩食 to pass JLPT.
([夜食]{やしょく} is "bedtime snack".)  
~~食 sounds politer and more formal than ~~ご[飯]{はん} and ~~[飯]{はん/めし}. When you
go to a hotel or an inn([旅館]{りょかん}), you will hear/see:

> 「(ご)[夕食]{ゆうしょく}は、６[時]{じ}からとなっております。」  
>  「[夕食]{ゆうしょく}[付]{つ}き:[一泊一万円]{いっぱくいちまんえん}。」  
>

but not  

> 「[晩]{ばん}(or[夕]{ゆう}/[夜]{よる})ご[飯]{はん}は、６時からとなっております」  
>  「[夕飯]{ゆうはん}/[晩飯]{ばんめし}は、６時からとなっております。」  
>  「晩(or夜/夕)ご飯付き:一泊一万円。」  
>  「夕飯付き/晩飯付き:一泊１万円。」  
>

(3) ~~ + [飯]{はん/めし}  
We have [夕飯]{ゆうはん} and [晩飯]{ばんめし}. (I think 夕飯 can also be read ゆうめし but I
think only guys use that word, in casual speech. Here again, I think you can
pass JLPT without knowing the reading ゆうめし.)  
As @istrasci-san mentions, "~~[飯]{めし}" sounds masculine and rough.  
I googled 夜飯 and よるめし, and got quite a few results, though there're a lot of
Chinese pages, too (Please see @Flaw's comment below). Anyway it's not so
common so I think you can survive in Japan without knowing 夜飯/よるめし.  
My mother sometimes uses お[夕飯]{ゆうはん} when talking to us or to our neighbors,
like  

> 「そろそろ、お[夕飯]{ゆうはん}の[支度]{したく}しなくっちゃ。」  
>  「そろそろ、[晩ご飯]{ばんごはん}/[夜ご飯]{よるごはん}の支度しなくっちゃ。」  
>

but she wouldn't say:  

> 「そろそろ、[夕食]{ゆうしょく}の支度しなくっちゃ。」, or  
>  「そろそろ、[晩飯]{ばんめし}の支度しなくっちゃ。」unless she's trying to sound funny.
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