By laurapayne
Rate: (6 Ratings)
There are numerous word types that by semantic definition are hard to define without context. Included in this category are homonyms and polysemes. Traditionally, homonyms and polysemes are similar in that they both have variations of meaning for a phonologically identical word. However, the fact that polysemes and homonyms are phonologically identical leads to the conclusion that context is required to determine which definition or sense of the word the speaker or writer intended. So, assuming you are given a context, how then do you determine whether a word is a homonym or a polyseme? There are some simple steps that will clarify the difference.