Multiple-Meaning Words

Words spelled the same with different meanings (and sometimes pronunciations): a patient may PRESENT symptoms, receive a PRESENT, or be PRESENT in the room — meaning comes from context.

Homographs share spelling (bass the fish, bass the sound — different pronunciations), while homonyms share both spelling and sound (bank of a river, bank with money). Clinical English is full of them: discharge, culture, and labor all shift meaning by context.

Related terms

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