Words with Multiple Meanings: How to Understand and Use Them
7 min
Created: March 29th, 2023Last updated: March 29th, 2023
Contents
English is a notoriously tricky language due to various nuances, spellings, and pronunciation issues. Many commonly used words have several definitions – an all-too-familiar obstacle constantly appearing in language learning! But never fear; working on words with multiple meanings can become incredibly rewarding in expanding your lexicon.
Here’s an insightful guide to some commonly used English words with several meanings. We will discuss different types of such expressions and provide examples so that you can better understand the fascinating complexity behind them.
What is a Word That Has Multiple Meanings
A word with various meanings is simply one with more than its initial definitions. Depending on the context they are used in, such expressions can possess an extensively diverse set of interpretations and have various uses.
It’s common to come across one word with two meanings, and knowing this nuance is part of developing an enriching vocabulary. Some tend to be basic and easy to understand, whereas others can present quite a challenge, even for the most experienced English speakers!
As you work to understand the definition of such expressions, remember that they can fall into a few distinct categories. It’s essential to be aware of these, as each type has nuances you should pay attention to. Below, we discuss the three kinds of words in English with multiple meanings.
Homonyms
This category is an umbrella term for words with any combination of the same spelling or sound but different meanings. Whether the words are homophones or homographs, they will always be classified as homonyms.
Homophones
Within the homonyms group, there are homophones – specifically words with multiple definitions and spellings but the same pronunciation. An example would be ‘right’ and ‘write’ (/raɪt/). While they are pronounced the same, their meanings differ drastically.
Homographs
In contrast, homographs have different meanings and the same spelling but different pronunciations. We see an excellent example in the word ‘bass.’ If this expression is pronounced with one syllable (/bæs/), it refers to a type of fish. And if uttered with two syllables (/beɪs/), it means a lower-range musical note or instrument.
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Examples of Words with Multiple Meaning
Now, it’s time to look at the words with multiple meanings examples. We will discuss each expression in context and delve deeper into the different definitions they could carry.
- Strike
- An act of hitting or pushing something forcefully (noun).
He put his full strength into the strike, pushing away the box with great vigor.
- An organized collective action carried out to protest or accomplish something (noun).
The workers are planning to go on strike as a sign of protest for their reduced wages.
- Type
- A grouping or class of instances that have similar features (noun).
The teacher asked us to describe five types of animals living on our continent.
- The different sizes and styles of letters in a typeface (noun).
The latest type used in most marketing materials is more modern and eye-catching.
- An action of pressing a key on a typewriter or keyboard (verb).
The writer typed on her laptop, with the sound of clicking keys echoing throughout the room.
- Minutes
- The notes taken down during a meeting, outlining decisions made and action steps (noun).
The CEO asked the manager to send out an email containing yesterday’s meeting minutes.
- A unit of time equivalent to sixty seconds (noun).
The waiter asked us to wait for five more minutes before he could bring our order.
- Fair
- A public event featuring amusement park rides, food stands, and other activities (noun).
Cathy and her friends watched the Ferris wheel twirl around during their visit to the fair.
- Treating someone or something without bias (adjective).
The competition’s regulations are apparent – every contestant will be judged according to fair criteria.
- Lead
- A heavy metal primarily used in batteries and other electrical items (noun).
The manufacturer found a large quantity of lead while excavating the site.
- To take charge or guide someone else to do something effectively (verb).
The teacher led the students through their exercises, giving instructions one at a time.
- Row
- One of several lines or sequences that make up a set (noun).
We took the data from last month’s report and organized it into 20 rows on the spreadsheet.
- To propel a boat using oars (verb).
The kayakers rowed along the river as they felt its gentle current.
- Right
- That which is proper and should be done (adjective).
It was the right thing to do; I’m glad he helped his neighbor with the repairs.
- The opposite of the left (adjective).
The shop was on the right side of the street.
- An entitlement or privilege that has been granted (noun).
The company gave their employees certain rights when they started working there.
- Tie
- Something that joins, links, or connects two people; a relationship (noun).
The family members have kept the ties between them strong for many generations.
- A piece of clothing worn around the neck and knotted under the chin (noun).
The student wore a plain tie with his formal outfit to the presentation.
- To fasten or secure an object in place (verb).
The thief was trying to tie up a bag full of money when he got caught by the cops.
- Watch
- An action of monitoring someone or something with focus and attention (verb).
Everyone was watching the news on television yesterday, shocked at hearing the breaking story.
- A small time-telling device, typically worn on the wrist (noun).
She looked at her watch and saw she was late for the meeting.
- Rose
- A flower (noun).
He presented her with a beautiful rose as a symbol of his admiration.
- To increase or develop in intensity (verb).
The level of debate between the two politicians rapidly rose, with each one making piercing points.
- Left
- The direction toward the west (noun).
She ended up taking a wrong turn and suddenly found herself heading left.
- Past or gone (verb).
He left the party without even saying goodbye.
- Novel
- An original, untold story that transcends its categories (noun).
Her latest novel was praised for its remarkable plot twists.
- Something highly unusual or extraordinary (adjective).
The novel solution he offered solved the issue quickly with minimum effort.
- Nail
- A short, thin piece of metal with a point at one end and a head on the other (noun).
I realized I had left out some nails while constructing my shelf, so I quickly grabbed some more.
- Doing something remarkably well or achieving excellent results (verb).
He nailed his recent presentation by thoroughly covering all topics without missing any details.
- Saw
- A tool with a serrated blade used for cutting wood (noun).
He took extra precautions when using the saw – its sharp edges could always pose potential risks.
- To observe or have previously seen something (verb).
I saw a nice rainbow yesterday when I was walking home from school.
- Bow
- A type of weapon used for aiming and shooting arrows (noun).
She constantly practiced with her bows to compete in the tournament.
- Bending slightly to greet somebody, usually as an act of respect (verb).
He bowed in front of the monarch to show his respect and admiration.
These examples demonstrate some of the most common words with multiple meanings in English. Pay close attenton to the context they are used in and their definition each time you come across them to better understand the language.
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Conclusion
Thanks to our guide, now you know the answer to the question, what is a word that has multiple meanings. Understanding the nuances and types of such expressions can help you avoid confusion and become more confident in your written and spoken communication. Keep practicing, and you’ll be able to master such multi-functional words.
FAQ
Why do words have multiple meanings?
The reason behind this phenomenon may have historical, cultural, or linguistic roots. For example, it could be that a word with double meaning originates from two languages and describes different concepts. Another possible explanation is that the usage of words can transform over time due to cultural changes and adaptations.
How many meanings can a word have?
Some words can have as few as two meanings, while others may possess up to dozens! Nothing is definite here; this amount varies greatly depending on the specific expression. Generally-used ones tend to accumulate additional connotations over time due to transformations in language use.
Why is understanding these words important?
Recognizing multiple meaning phrases provides an essential framework for writing and speaking fluidly with precision, accuracy, and clarity. Sometimes, the wrong usage can drastically alter the meaning of a sentence and misinterpret the speaker’s intentions.
How can I work on multiple-meaning words?
It’s all about practicing regularly and familiarizing yourself with different contexts! Learn from examples, allow yourself to make mistakes, and don’t be afraid to check the definition in dictionaries like Cambridge or Merriam-Webster. These references will undoubtedly give you a better understanding of such expressions.
CAMBRIDGE
ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN USE ADVANCED
UNIT 91
One word, many meanings
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A |
Polysemy A Look
You |
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B |
Being aware of polysemy It • • • • Language The |
EXERCISES
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91.1 |
Find 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
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91.2 |
What Write |
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91.3 |
Here 1 The Their 2 Don’t Parliament 3 Let’s My 4 The Why 5 Sales You’ve 6 Do Thanks |
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91.4 |
Look |
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91.5 |
What
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91.6 |
Explain 1 2 3 4 |
ANSWER KEY
91.1
1
intend: I didn’t mean to hurt you.
2 exactly: She finished the exercise in five minutes flat.
3 proper, just: It’s only fair that we should share the housework.
4 city with the seat of government: Wellington is the capital of New
Zealand.
5 light in colour: I’ve got fair hair and burn easily in the sun.
6 unkind: You shouldn’t be so mean to your little sister.
7 fixed: To join the Fitness Club you pay a flat fee of £500.
8 neither very good nor very bad: His marks in his final exams ranged from
excellent to fair.
9 money: You need plenty of capital to open a restaurant.
10 unwilling to spend money: He’s far too mean to buy her flowers.
91.2
It’s
only fair: adjective (right)
The Frankfurt Book Fair: noun (large show)
the weather to stay fair: adjective (pleasant)
I’ve got fair skin: adjective (light)
ranged from excellent to fair: adjective (satisfactory)
the burning third-floor flat: noun (apartment)
terribly flat and boring: adjective (level)
a flat fee of £500: adjective (fixed)
B flat minor: noun (♭ =
a note that is a semitone lower than B itself)
in
five minutes flat: adverb (only; emphasises how quick a time is)
in capital letters: adjective (upper case)
the capital of New Zealand: noun (city where the country’s government
sits)
capital to open a restaurant: noun (money)
Capital punishment: adjective (punishable by death)
‘coagulate’ mean: verb (convey a meaning, express an idea)
mean to hurt you: verb (intend)
too mean to buy her flowers: adjective (opposite of generous)
be so mean: adjective (unkind)
91.3
1
match 4 post
2
bill 5 mark
3
set 6 run
91.4
a
an instrument a dentist uses to make holes in your teeth
b
training for marching
c
a powerful tool used for making holes in a road
d
an exercise practising grammar in a fairly mechanical way
91.5
1
a the list on which students are marked present or absent every day
b to send a letter or parcel in a special way so it has protection against
being lost
2 a how much performers might appeal to the public
b money earned on an investment or paid for a loan
3 a to cut up into small cubes (usually vegetables)
b a cube with a number from one to six on each side
4 a throwing the ball into the air and hitting it at the start of a turn
b the attention given to customers by staff
5 a specific problem being dealt with by lawyers
b a piece of luggage
6 a the long stick that players use in snooker or billiards
b the words or actions that tell an actor that it is his or her turn to speak
91.6
1
Then it hit me! This means ‘then I suddenly understood and then the ball
suddenly struck my body.’
2 This is based on the traditional saying that babies are delivered to a home
by a big bird called a
stork. A crane is another kind of large bird rather like a stork. But a crane
can also be a piece of
heavy machinery used to lift heavy objects.
3 In the first sentence, flies is a verb and like is a
preposition – the sentence is comparing the flight
of time with that of an arrow. In the second sentence, flies is a noun
and like is a verb and the
sentence says that fruit flies [very small insects] enjoy bananas.
4 As well as being a preposition, down is the word for very soft
feathers used to stuff, for example,
pillows or winter jackets. If prices are up, they have risen and if
they are down they have fallen.
Many English words have multiple meanings. This means that the same word, with the same spelling and pronunciation may have more than one meaning. Sometimes the meanings may be very different. This can be confusing for people learning English. You may wonder,” How do I know what the meaning is?” The best way is rely on context, illustrations, or diagrams in the text. However, if you still are not sure of the meaning, look it up. A dictionary will tell you all the meanings of any word. This posting cannot discuss every word with multiple meanings. There are simply too many of them. In this posting, however, I talk about 25 common words with multiple meanings. These are word you may see and hear in your daily life. I show you parts of speech, definitions, and example sentences for each meaning of each word.The download at the end will give you additional practice understanding words with multiple meanings.
Here is the free English video lesson I taught on YouTube:
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You can download the practice sheet NOW!
Below is a list of common words with multiple meanings.
B
- bank
2. bark
3. bill
4. break
5. bug
C
6. charge
7. company
8. current
D-H
9. date
10. fair
11. fast
12. fly
13. hit
J-N
14. jam
15. left
16. mine
17. nail
P-R
18. patient
19. pool
20. pupil
21. run
S-T
22. season
23. set
24. take
25. turn
You now know many common English words with multiple meanings. Often you can guess the meaning of the word through context. If that is not helpful, however, don’t hesitate to look the word up. The download will give you additional practice understanding words with multiple meanings.
You can download the practice sheet NOW!
Idioms of the day
- no picnic–This means something is difficult and not pleasant. I’m glad I moved, but making all the preparations was no picnic.
- turn a blind eye to–This means to not notice a very obvious problem. Her husband comes home drunk every night, but she turns a blind eye to his problems. She insists that he’s not an alcoholic.
Polysemous English words — Wall Street English. There are many English words that are pronounced and spelled exactly the same, but have completely different meanings. … But you get a double benefit, as marketers would say: several new English words at once to replenish the vocabulary for the price of one.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the English word with the most meanings is set. It has 430 values. Here we will look at common examples of the meanings of ambiguous English words.
What words in English have multiple meanings?
And in order to read articles in English on your own and not feel discomfort, come to study at Skyeng.
- Run: 645 values …
- Set: 430 values …
- Go: 368 values …
- Take: 343 values …
- Stand: 334 values …
- Get: 289 values …
- Turn: 288 values …
- Put: 268 values
Why does one word have many meanings in English?
The English language is notable for the fact that a large number of words are polysemous. The linguistic name for this phenomenon is ‘polysemy’: from the Greek words ‘poly’ — ‘many’ and ‘sema’ — ‘meaning’. This very polysemy leads to our mistakes, misunderstanding and misinterpretation. … Their different meanings do not surprise us at all.
What’s the longest word in the English language?
The longest word found in the main dictionaries of the English language is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, which means lung disease from the inhalation of very small silica particles of volcanic ash; from a medical point of view, the disease is similar to that of silicosis.
What are unambiguous example words?
In modern Russian, there are words that have the same lexical meaning: bandage, appendicitis, birch, felt-tip pen, satin, etc. Such words are called unambiguous or monosemantic (gr.
What word in Russian has the most meanings?
Polysemous words can be among words belonging to any part of speech, except for numbers. Most polysemous words are observed among verbs. The word «go» can be called «champion» in terms of ambiguity. It has more than 40 meanings, and the verb «pull» has more than 20.
How to determine the meaning of a polysemantic word?
A word that has several lexical meanings is polysemantic. One meaning is direct, the rest are portable. A striking example of a polysemantic word is a key (spanner, treble, spring, key from the lock). Any independent part of speech can be polysemantic: a noun, an adjective, a verb, etc.
What are words with two meanings called?
Words that have two or more meanings are called polysemous. Words that answer the same question and have a similar meaning are called synonyms. Words that answer the same question, but have the opposite meaning, are called antonyms.
What are grade 2 polysemous words?
Polysemous words are words that have two or more lexical meanings. Explanatory dictionary — a dictionary that provides an explanation of the lexical meaning of a word.
Why are there so many synonyms in English?
Why are there so many synonyms in English?
It’s one thing when synonyms convey the subtlest shades of moods, qualities, intentions. … Third, you can practice your English listening skills once again — a little exercise for those seeking to improve their skills.
How many English languages?
Living languages
| Language | A type |
|---|---|
| English | West Germanic languages |
| Welsh | Celtic languages (British languages) |
| Scottish (Germanic) | West Germanic languages |
| Irish | Celtic languages (Goidel languages) |
What words refer to Homonyms?
Homonyms are words that match in sound and spelling, but have different meanings:
- glasses in a beautiful frame;
- score points in the game.
How many letters are there in the largest English word?
The longest words in English The longest word that can be found in the English dictionary contains 45 letters and calls the disease silicosis: Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
What does the word tetrahydropyranylcyclopentyltetrahydropyridopyridine mean?
Tetrahydropyranylcyclopentyltetrahydropyridopyridine is a 55-letter word describing a substance according to the patent of the Russian Federation No. 2285004. The word denoting age includes a numeral, spelled together, and the basis «-years».
What does the longest word in the world look like?
In the Guinness Book of Records, the 1993 edition, the word «X-ray electrocardiographic» was named the longest. It consists of 33 letters. In 2003, the word changed — «high-level discerning.» There are already 35 letters in it.
Пришло время обратить внимание на некоторые простые общеизвестные слова, имеющие много разных значений. (О словах round и mean мы уже писали). Возьмем, к примеру, слово “run”, известное всем как «бежать, бегать» — у него около 179 значений, а у слова “take” — 127 значений! Мы решили рассмотреть некоторые самые необходимые значения таких слов, которые могут быть разными частями речи, например, одно и то же слово, не изменяя своей формы, может быть существительным, глаголом, прилагательным и наречием, а также принимать участие в идиомах и фразах.
1. RUN
В качестве глагола:
-
- My cat loves to run after rats (бегать) – моя кошка любит бегать за крысами
- My sister runs a law firm (руководить) – моя сестра руководит юридической фирмой
- Our company runs car-washing service (предлагать услуги) – наша компания предлагает услуги по мойке машин
- If you run this computer program you will protect your computer against viruses. (загрузить/установить программу) – если вы загрузите эту компьютерную программу вы защитите ваш компьютер против вирусов.
В качестве существительного
- We go for a run every morning. (пробежка) – мы ходим на пробежку каждое утро
- Our play will have a short run in this city. (период времени) – наша пьеса будет недолго идти в этом городе
- The bus makes a regular run to the country (маршрут) – автобус совершает регулярные рейсы в деревню
2. TAKE
В качестве глагола
-
- Take this cake for your sister (брать) – возьми это пирожное для своей сестры
- I took a deep breath / Children took a sip of their juice / she took a look at the people before her (выполнить какое-то действие) – я глубоко вздохнул / дети отхлебнули свой сок/ она посмотрела на людей перед собой.
- If you want to be successful you should take a course of study at college (учиться) — Если ты хочешь добиться успеха в жизни,тебе следует отучиться в колледже
Глагольные конструкции
- That’s my final offer. Take it or leave it. — Это мое последнее предложение. Или соглашайся, или гуд-бай. (отсутствие выбора)
- It takes all sorts (to make the world) — Всякие люди бывают / человек человеку рознь
- Take it from me, this story is interesting – можете мне поверить, эта история интересная (используется для усиления того, что мы говорим)
3. TURN
В качестве глагола
- The child turned around saw his mother (изменить положениее) – ребенок оглянулся и увидел свою мать
- Turn left than right (изменить направление) – поверните налево, затем направо
- Now turn the page and find exercise 5 (перевернуть страницу) – сейчас переверните страницу и найдите упражнение 5
- From a student she turned a teacher (стать другим) – из студентки она стала учителем
- As winter came it turned cold ( измениться — о погоде) – пришла зима и стало холодно
В качестве существительного
- It is your turn to speak (очередь) – ваша очередь говорить
- Our meeting took an unexpected turn (изменение ситуации) – наша встреча приняла неожиданный поворот
- Be careful when driving and take a right turn (изменение направления) – будьте осторожны при вождении и поверните в нужном месте
Глагольные конструкции
- She cuts costs at every turn – она постоянно экономит деньги
- I made him a good turn by inviting to participate in my project – я оказал ему хорошую услугу, пригласив принять участие в своем проекте.
- He made me a bad turn by introducing to that terrible person – он оказал мне плохую услугу, познакомив с этим ужасным человеком.
- Why does this woman always speak out of turn? – почему эта женщина всегда всех перебивает (говорит вне очереди)?
- We were happy to live at the turn of the century – нам посчастливилось жить на рубеже двух столетий
Таких слов с множеством значений в английском языке много. С некоторыми из них мы вас познакомим в одной из следующих статей. Следите за обновлениями!
