# Words with two meanings **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684 "2026-01-14T13:45:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/1 "2026-01-14T13:45:53Z")
This is just for fun. I notice that in English there are words which have two (or more?) meanings. For example, **resume** can mean to start up again or your career details. At my local pharmacy there was a ‘ **patient** discussion board’. I made the staff smile by saying that the board was therefore for polite chats only. 😉 Please add any more such words… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/2 "2026-01-14T13:51:05Z")
There are lots of these in the English language. Go to the park and park your car. Look at that crane crane its neck next to that crane on the construction site. My feet are three feet long. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/3 "2026-01-14T13:54:00Z")
Sanction is one that always resonates with me. Is it threatened punishment or approval? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/4 "2026-01-14T14:02:32Z")
Polish and polish has two meanings (from Poland or a to rub things to make them shiny) based on whether it’s capitalized or not. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/5 "2026-01-14T14:09:56Z")
I sometimes think it’d be far easier to list the very few English words with just one meaning. - **think** : believe or cogitate? - **far** : distant or much? - **list** : a roster, create a roster, or tip a ship? - **English** : language or demonym or billiard cue spin? - **one** : a number, or generic third person singular pronoun? - **meaning** : definition or intent? With further thinking more of that sentence’s words could make the list. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/6 "2026-01-14T14:16:28Z")
Live and live. Minute and minute. Lead and lead. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/7 "2026-01-14T14:17:35Z")
Right; also, do not forget that we should distinguish between one word with several meanings, or aspects of meaning, and two completely different words that happen to be spelled the same. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/8 "2026-01-14T14:23:56Z")
All languages have those kind of words, but English sure seems to have a lot. My father used to jokingly complain about the word “Fair” “It can mean a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities, that something is just, that something is beautiful or that somebody is blond or light skinned (“fair hair”)…” ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/9 "2026-01-14T14:29:38Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > **meaning** : definition or intent? Mean: - Intend (I mean to misbehave) - Definition (What does it mean?) - Miserly or spartan (With the poor and mean and lowly, Lived on earth our Saviour holy) - Nasty or spiteful (Quit being so mean to me!) - Arithmetic average (As opposed to median or mode) - Exceptional (She makes a mean chillli) - Method (We will fight by all means available) - Wealth (A man of considerable means) Those last two are probably the same one. This thread is just going to become the dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/10 "2026-01-14T14:43:28Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > This thread is just going to become the dictionary. Uh huh. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/11 "2026-01-14T15:20:28Z")
FTR, I once had to record the record for the best selling record. ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/12 "2026-01-14T15:29:15Z")
“Oversight” Two almost contradictory meanings. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/13 "2026-01-14T15:30:49Z")
Still “Once the bubbling stopped, the still became quite still, and still is.” ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/14 "2026-01-14T17:20:47Z")
“There’s a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure…” I think this thread would be shorter if we listed English words that **don’t** have two meanings. There are thousands of words that have more than one meaning. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/15 "2026-01-14T18:07:06Z")
Apologies - I posted in haste after making the ‘patient’ joke at my pharmacy. 😨 So let me amend the aim of the thread. 🧐 Come up with a sentence using the ‘word’ as often as possible (different meaning each time) Already these fine posters have done so. 🕶 > [@Chefguy](#): > > Go to the park and park your car. Look at that crane crane its neck next to that crane on the construction site. My feet are three feet long. > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I once had to record the record for the best selling record. > [@peccavi](#): > > Once the bubbling stopped, the still became quite still, and still is ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/16 "2026-01-14T18:07:43Z")
The words “set” and “run” both have dozens of meanings. Supposedly, “set” has over 400 meanings. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/17 "2026-01-14T18:08:17Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > “There’s a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure…” An excellent reference! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/18 "2026-01-14T18:16:17Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Sanction is one that always resonates with me. Is it threatened punishment or approval? This confused me when I first read headlines that the US military was commandeering ‘sanctioned’ Venezuelan oil tankers. I read it as meaning ‘legally sanctioned’ and thought “why are we taking over legit oil tankers?” Citation is similarly ambiguous. It can mean either approval (a citation for bravery) or punishment (a traffic citation). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/19 "2026-01-14T20:11:34Z")
Now with the revised guidance from the OP, here’s an esoteric one y’all might enjoy. Back in the very early days of aviation, like after the Wright Brothers first flew, but before World War One, the term “aerodrome” was used to refer to airplanes, airports, and hangars. So the aerodrome landed at the aerodrome and then was stored in the aerodrome. ---
**Author:** ![Steven\_Maven](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steven_maven/32/3272_2.png) [@Steven\_Maven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Maven)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684/20 "2026-01-14T20:31:44Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Go to the park and park your car. Drive your car on the parkway. Park your car on the driveway. (George Carlin?) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-with-two-meanings/1026684.md?page=2)