Why does the word waffle have definitons for breakfast type foods and a type of speech?!
Waffle (2) - To act, speak, write evasively.
Answers: Waffle - a light crisp buttercake.
Waffle (2) - To act, speak, write evasively.
It's paid twice as much as words that have only one meaning.
The word "Set" in English has the record having over 26 separate meanings as a noun alone, then it's also a verb with about 30 meanings depending on what lexicographer you follow...
English speakers take the cake for being rather non-inventive and making a single word do the work of ten or simply ripping words directly from other languages or creating ad hoc words from Latin or Greek roots like the word "sesquipedalian" which is one of my favorites. The Greek original (attrib. to Aristotle) literally means "a foot and a half long". Just think William F. Buckley and you'll find a good example of a man who simple has fallen in rapt adoration of sesquipedalian words!
Just think of the crazy Brits! What we call a cookie, they call a biscuit! What we call a biscuit, they call a scone! And they measure ones weight in "stones". Do you know how many stones you weigh? But we still use the same word for that which most men seek at nightclubs and bars: Poontang!
And do notice that in England the word Waffle means something different which might help you discover how a breakfast food became evasive speech!
I believe it was Mark Twain who described England and the USA as ".....two countries divided by a common language!"
But when you end up in Australia and some dude says "Hey mate, the Burrabong in your Wazoo ain't going to bewoddle the Fiddleburough-wrath, before the Dillaberry-ling!" it's time to shoot some damn Australians before they get you with their boomerangs!
Why does tablet have 3-4 meanings??
lots of words have more than just one meaning
A heteronym is a word that is spelled and sounds the same but has different meanings. An example of this is the word 'lick'. You can lick an ice cream (eating using only your tongue) or lick someone in a fight (defeat the person physically). Not to be confused with the term homonym. Homonyms sound the same but are not always spelled the same way. A good example of this are the words 'bear' and 'bare'. Bear (the animal) and bare (lacking decoration or to undress) are spelled differently, yet have different definitions.
Some more common words with more than one meaning:
Pen - a place for animals that has a fence all around.
Pen - a writing instrument.
Stuff - to push one thing into something else.
Stuff - property, as personal belongings or equipment; things.
Course - a direction or route taken or to be taken.
Course - a part of a meal served at one time.