A wealth of words with multiple meanings exists in the English language. Technically, almost every word has multiple meanings. How often do you look up a word in the dictionary and find only one meaning listed next to it? Practically never! It’s common for words to have slightly varying meanings, but the meanings of homonyms and homographs differ in substantive ways.

The term for a word with more than one meaning is “Homonym”. Homonyms are words that have the same spelling and pronunciation, but different meanings. It's tricky when words sound the same but can mean different things. This is where context come into play. Even though one word can morph into multiple meanings, the rest of the sentence should give you an idea of what's being discussed.

Understanding comes in the way the word is communicated. The person giving the information must make sure the word is used in context. The person receiving the information must be able to understand the context and give the word the correct meaning for the context.

Jim Mazerat
Forensic Investigations Group