Hi, everyone! I’ve thought it would be interesting for you to deal with polysemantic words a bit more. But I think that it may be even more entertaining to concentrate on homonyms. The difference is that the meanings of homonyms differ so much that we can hardly remember al of them. Or, being more precise, I'd say that polysemantic words are words that have several meanings logically related to each other. And homonyms are different words having the same plain of expression. So, now we’re focusing on the word “scale”. And these are its possible meanings.
1. Musical notes in a sequence
– If you really want to become a professional, you must practice scales more, – my piano teacher used to tell me. – Если ты хочешь стать профессионалом, ты должен больше играть гаммы, – имела обыкновение говорить мне преподаватель по фортепиано.
2. An instrument to measure weight. (Often plural)
Buy scales from an online store you can trust. We sell high quality analog and digital scales. Покупайте весы в онлайн-магазине, которому вы можете доверять. Мы продаем высококачественные аналоговые и цифровые весы.
3. To climb.
Rebecca Stephens was the first British woman to scale Everest. Ребекка Стивенс была первой женщиной в Великобритании, покорившей Эверест.
4. A line mark on the map that indicates distance.
The smaller the number of the map scale, the more detailed the map will be. A 1:10000 map will show objects ten times as large as a 1:100000 Чем меньше число, указанное в масштабе карты, тем детальнее будет карта. На карте с масштабом 1:10000 объекты будут в 10 раз крупнее, чем на карте с масштабом 1:100000.
5. Protective covering of fish.
Squamation is the arrangement of scales in fishes. Чешуйчатость – расположении чешуи у рыб.
I have intentionally described not all the meanings of the polysemantic word “scale” concentrating on homonyms. You’re welcome to continue the list with your examples and new meanings.
