Same word different meaning in one sentence

Different meanings, same word spelling, in single sentence causes confusion, so you often have to read the sentence twice to gain understanding.

A simple sentence is the expression of a single thought. Every sentence has a subject (the thing being talked about), a verb (which makes a statement about the subject) and an object.

Here’s a typical example of wording found in any act, statute, code, rule or regulation:

“Any reference to a specific statute include any statutory extension or modification amendment or re-enactment of such statute and any regulations or orders made under such statute and any general reference to “statute” or “statutes” include any regulations or orders made under such statute or statutes.”

“References in these Regulations to a regulation are references to a regulation in these Regulations and references to a Schedule are references to a Schedule to these Regulations.”

It’s all adverb-verb writing that says nothing…

Is it any wonder people think all legalese is gibberish and lawyers all babble?

Here are some sentences using the same word that has different meanings:

In a single sentence the judge passes your sentence

Today’s weather is fair for the annual country village fair

The bandage is wound around the wound

It’s a fine line whether or not Jayne gets a fine.

She takes a clip of fabric as her friend looks for a clip to attach it to the sample.

The young couple have a row about who is going to row the boat

In less that a minute she’s able to measure a minute amount of sugar

We must polish the Polish furniture

The taller burglar takes the lead before stealing the lead of the church roof

How many people object to us putting this object on display?

Since there is no time like the present, he thinks it’s time to present the present

The farmer shivers in the cold winds as he winds up his clock.

He grabs a bat to hit the low flying bat

A second later, he crosses the finish line in second place

That soldier decides to desert his dessert in the desert

Will you read the book I read last week?

The artist paints a bass on the head of the bass drum

This dump is so full that it has to refuse more refuse

When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes

That farm is used to produce produce

= = = ==

If you think of others, simply pop them in the comments below, and we’ll add then to the list 🙂

To understand this better, let us look at some examples:

CLEAN

1. The cottage needs a good clean.
2. He clean forgot about dropping the letters in the post box.
3. The entertainment was good clean fun for the whole family.
4. He cleaned up his act and came off drugs.

In the above example, we have used the word clean and used it in 4 different sentences, each signifying a different meaning, along with its usage as different parts of speech.

Sentence A — The cottage needs a good clean. The word clean in this sentence means the act or an instance of cleaning. Since this is an act, hence it is a noun.

Sentence B — He clean forgot about dropping the letters in the post box. The meaning of the word clean in this sentence is completely, and since it is modifying the word forgot which a verb (action word) is, it is an adverb.

Sentence C — The entertainment was good clean fun for the whole family. In this case, the meaning of the word clean is fit for everyone, nothing obscene. The word in this case is modifying fun, which is a noun; hence the word here is an adjective.

Sentence D — He cleaned up his act and came off drugs. In this case the word cleans means to rid of undesirable features. Clean has been used to denote an action, and hence in this case it is a verb.

LIGHT

1. The new lamp had good light for reading.
2. Magnesium is a light metal.
3. Rahul likes to travel light.
4. The choice lighted on me.

Sentence A — The new lamp had good light for reading. In this the word light is being is used to mean a particular quality or type of light. And also it has been used as a noun.
Sentence B — Magnesium is a light metal. In this the word is used to mean having relatively low density, also since it is used to describe the word metal which is a noun, it is an adjective.
Sentence C — Rahul likes to travel light. In this, the word light means little equipment, baggage, etc.
Sentence D — the choice lighted on me. In this the word light is used to denote an action thus it is verb and it means to strike or fall on.

Some of the similar kinds of words are:

LOVE

We love you. (Here, love is a verb as it is showing the action in terms of expressing an emotion)
Love is blind. (Here, Love is a noun as it is a name of an emotion)

WATER

We drink water. (Here, water is a noun as it is name of the thing)
They water the plants. (Here, water is a verb as here it means giving water to plants i.e. an action)
This is a water pipe. (Here, water is a adjective as it is describing pipe which is a noun)

ABOVE

The heavens showered blessings from above. (Here, ‘above’ is used as a noun)
She is above average in intelligence. (Here, above is a preposition as here it is showing the position or the status of the pronoun ‘she’)
Analyze the above sentence. (Here, above is an adjective as it telling something about the noun ‘sentence’)

FAST

He did not take anything during the fast. (It names something, so it is a noun)
Muslims fast during Ramazan. (This is an activity, so fast is a verb)
She speaks fast. (This becomes adverb here as it is describing a verb i.e. )

BACK

Synonymy relates to the topic of semantics, which concerns the study of meaning in language. The term synonymy originates from the Greek words sún and onoma, which mean with and name.

The first sentence uses awful to describe the weather and the second uses terrible. Although both sentences use different words, they have the same meaning: bad. In other words, awful and terrible are synonyms of bad.

To test whether two words are synonyms (or synonymous), we can use a substitution method: if one word can be replaced by another without changing the meaning/sense of the sentence, the two words are synonyms. The opposite of synonymy is antonymy. Synonymy can be found across all parts of speech: in nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc.

Let’s put the synonyms into a sentence and use the substitution method:

1a. You have a big house.

1b. You have a large house.

By substituting big with large, we can keep the sentence’s meaning (the description of the house) in a similar degree/sense as the original sentence.

2a. He had a difficult decision to make.

2b. He had a hard decision to make.

The same as before, the substitution of difficult with hard does not change the sentence’s meaning (the description of the decision).

Synonymy in literature

Instead of repeating the word one kind, Lee chooses its synonym: alike, to relay a similar meaning to ‘very similar’. The same thing happens in the case of stayed shut up in the house and stay inside. Using synonymy, Lee enriches the prose by avoiding repetition while keeping the meaning similar in both cases.

Wake is a synonym of watch. Here, wake means ‘to stay awake to watch or tend’ (Oxford English Dictionary). Notice the slightly richer sense of see in watch compared to wake, yet the two words carry a similar meaning. By adopting synonymy, Shakespeare enhances the quality of the words he uses.

Absolute synonyms

With absolute synonyms, the meaning and function of the synonymous words are exactly the same. If you have a pair of absolutely synonymous words, you can substitute the words in every possible context (semantic, grammatical, sociolinguistic, etc.) with its synonym. This condition is very rare because, usually, two words that refer to the same meaning/object can’t co-exist. An example of an absolute synonym is airport and aerodrome. The former is what we commonly use nowadays, whereas the latter is an old-fashioned word.

Partial synonyms

Partial synonyms, on the other hand, occur when words have very closely related meanings. The meanings are not exactly the same, only partially, but close enough to relay the same message. Partial synonyms can differ in their collocation, register, and regional/social variation.

Have a look at these examples of partial synonyms:

Important to note: Homonym is a broader term for homophone (words that sound the same but have different meanings) and homograph (words that are spelt the same but have different meanings). Synonyms have similar meanings but homonyms have different meanings.

Even though the word wing is replaced with extension, we still get the same information about ‘a new section of the hospital is currently being constructed and it is for the maternity department’. The meaning of extension isn’t exactly the same as wing , but similar.

The same explanation can also be found here. We still get the same information about where my room is: on the west side of the building.

Polysemy — multiple meanings: wing — animal parts for flying & a section of a building.

The meaning of wing in this sentence refers to ‘a section of building’ and not ‘animal parts for flying’.

Synonymy vs. Polysemy

• In synonymy, you can substitute a word with its similar meaning and the sense/meaning of the sentence doesn’t change. A is similar to B .
• Synonyms are usually used as a means of avoiding word repetition. However, be careful of the slightly different meanings of synonymous words. Always be mindful of the context and valency of the sentence.
• Polysemy isn’t about word substitution. Because a single polysemic word has many meanings (A means B and C) , it can cause ambiguity. It is often used for wordplay or for creating “hidden” meanings.