Multiple Meaning Words

"The student brought a bat to school."

What do you picture when you read this sentence? Do you imagine a students with a baseball bat? Or do you imagine the flying mammal? Bat is a multiple meaning word. The reader needs to use the context to figure out how bat is being used in the sentence.

"On the day of the softball game, the student brought a bat to school."

Now what kind of bat do you imagine? In this sentence, the context shows you which kind of bat the student probably has. A living bat wouldn't be much use at a softball game, so the bat is probably a baseball bat. As readers, we still need a little more information to figure out which meaning is used. Maybe the next sentence will help:

"On the day of the softball game, the student brought a bat to school. She hoped that her lucky wooden bat would help her to hit a home run."

Multiple meaning words can be tricky for readers. Some meanings of words, like the two kinds of bats, aren't connected. But others have a distant connection. Think about the palm of your hand. The word palm as in a palm tree is related. Why do you think someone may have used the word palm to describe the tree? Even though the palm of your hand is a different meaning from a palm tree, both meanings share a common origin.

Some multiple meaning words can be used in different ways. Think about a snack. This word can be used as a noun--think about a snack that you eat! But it can also be used as a verb, as in the sentence, "Bob liked to snack on sunflower seeds." These meanings are also closely related.

To learn more about multiple meaning words, check out this slideshow.

Multiple meaning words

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