Words with double meaning or multiple meanings are not uncommon in Russian. Very often, one and the same word can be called and / or characterize completely different objects or phenomena. Such words have one main meaning - the original, literal, and one (or more) - figurative, figurative, metaphorical. The latter usually arises on the basis of some sign, similarity, association.
Examples of polysemantic nouns
Among nouns, you can find a lot of examples of words with a double meaning. Here are just a few:
| Word | Direct meaning | Portable |
| Ticket | A plane or train ticket, a theater or movie ticket. | Examination ticket. |
| Comb | Combing tool, comb. | Crest of a wave or mountain. |
| Word | Speech unit. | Literary genre. For example, "The Tale of Igor's Campaign". |
| Hand | Body part - right hand, left hand. |
|
| Brush | The hand is the part of the body from the wrist to the fingertips. | A paint tool. |
| Work | Physical labor, effort, human occupation. | The visible result of physical labor is "Good job!". |
| Leaf | A leaf growing on a tree. | A sheet of paper, notebook or landscape sheet. |
| Root | The root of the tree. The part of the tree that is underground. |
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| Debt | Amount of money or material value promised by one person to another, the result of borrowing. | Moral desire for something, moral duty. |
This is not the whole list. It is probably simply impossible to compose everything, because there are almost as many words with a double meaning in Russian as there are single-valued ones.
Examples of polysemantic adjectives
Different objects in one word can not only be called, butand characterize. Here are some examples of such words:
| Word | Direct meaning | Portable |
| Steel | Made of steel. For example, a steel knife. | Very strong, unshakable - "nerves of steel". |
| Gold | Made of gold - "gold earrings", "gold necklace". | Very valuable, kind, with outstanding moral qualities - "golden man", "golden child", "golden heart". |
| Heavy | Those who take a lot of physical effort - "hard work". | About something that is difficult for others to endure - "a difficult person", "a difficult character". |
| White | White - "white snow", "white sheet". | A poem without rhyme is "blank verse". |
| Black | Black color - "black eyes", "black marker". | Angry, sarcastic, touching on sensitive topics in a rude way - "black humor", "black comedy". |
Again, the list is incomplete. In addition, the list of words with a double meaning can include adjectives that describe colors, smells and / or tastes at the same time: orange, raspberry, lemon, plum, and so on.
Examples of polysemantic verbs
Action words can also have more than onevalues:
| Word | Direct meaning | Portable |
| Sit down | Sit on a chair, on a chair, on a horse. | Get on the train (not literally sit on the roof of the train, but figuratively take your seat on it). |
| Get off/get off | You can get off the train, get off at the desired stop, go to the store. | "Go crazy". |
| Beating | Strike. | "Spring gushing", "life abounds". |
| Cut | Separate into pieces with a knife or other sharp blade. | Cause an unpleasant sensation - "light hurts the eyes", "sound hurts the ear". |
Most often, words with a double meaning are words originally Russian. Borrowed terms usually have the same meaning.
Differences from homonyms
It is very important to distinguish words with double meaning from homonyms: different words that are spelled the same. Polysemantic words have a direct, basic meaning, and transferred on some basis. Homonyms have independent meanings. For example, the words "handle" (door) and "handle" (writing) are homonyms, since there is no connection between them. But the word "satellite" is ambiguous - the celestial body was called "satellite" because it moves around the planet, like a human satellite.
