Quick Reference 3: Words With a Second Meaning

Reference 3: Words With a Second Meaning

A familiar word can mislead precisely because its everyday sense arrives first. Every word below has a common meaning most readers reach for automatically, and a second, less familiar sense that a sentence sometimes actually needs. Each entry gives both senses and the clue that tells you which one is in play.

Word	Familiar sense	Less-familiar sense	Context clue
affected	influenced	artificial, pretentious, deliberately adopted	describes a manner, accent, style, or behavior that seems deliberately assumed
appreciated	valued, admired	increased in value	the subject is an asset, currency, property, or other thing whose value can rise
arrested	taken into custody	halted where it stood	the subject is a process or development
austere	severe, forbidding	restrained, plain in style	modifies a building, a style, a page
betrayed	was disloyal to	revealed unintentionally	the subject is a detail, gesture, or expression
bolt	to fasten, or to run	to consume hastily	the object is food
brokered	traded on commission	negotiated, arranged	the object is a deal, a truce, a settlement
checked	examined, verified	restrained, held back	the object is a force, growth, or impulse
cleave	to split apart	to cling to	cleave to means cling; cleave alone means split
commanded	ordered, led	obtained or attracted, especially a price, fee, audience, respect, or attention	collocations such as commanded a high price or commanded attention
compounded	mixed, combined	made worse	the object is a problem, error, or difficulty
courted	wooed	invited upon oneself	the object is a disaster, a lawsuit, controversy
cultivated	farmed	developed deliberately	the object is a manner, a friendship, a reputation
delivered	handed over	produced what was promised	delivered results, delivered on the promise
discriminating	telling things apart	showing refined judgment	a discriminating palate; the noun for prejudice is discriminatory
dismissed	sent away	rejected without argument	the object is a claim, a finding, a proposal
economy	a national financial system	thrift, sparing means	an economy of means; written with economy
engaged	occupied, or betrothed	took up, dealt with	engaged with an argument, audience, problem
entertained	amused, hosted	considered, held open	the object is an idea, a doubt, a possibility

Word	Familiar sense	Less-familiar sense	Context clue
exacting	demanding great care (adjective)	as a form of the verb exact, to demand or obtain, often by force or pressure	an exacting standard (adjective); exacting a promise (verb form)
faculty	the teaching staff	an ability or power	a faculty for languages; the faculty of speech
flag	a banner	to weaken, lose vigor	the subject is attention, energy, interest
foundered	sank	failed, broke down	the subject is a plan, negotiation, scheme
grounded	prevented from flying	based on	grounded in evidence, in theory, in fact
guarded	protected by a guard	cautious, withheld	modifies a statement, a welcome, an optimism
harbored	sheltered	held on to, nursed	the object is a grudge, a doubt, a resentment
hedge	a row of shrubs	to qualify, avoid committing	used as a verb, with a claim or an answer
involved	took part in	intricate, hard to follow	modifies an argument, a plot, an explanation
measured	assessed with an instrument	deliberate, unhurried	modifies a tone, a response, a pace
moved	affected emotionally	prompted to act	moved someone to act takes the action sense; was moved by takes the feeling
novel	a book	new, unfamiliar	sits before a noun, as an adjective
observed	watched, noticed	obeyed, adhered to	the object is a rule, a fast, a ceasefire, a custom
provoked	angered	brought about, elicited	the object is a response, a debate, a reaction
qualified	certified, credentialed	limited, hedged	a qualified endorsement, a qualified claim
reserved	booked in advance	held back, undemonstrative	modifies a person, or a judgment
sanction	a penalty	official approval	approval is being given, not imposed
schooled	educated formally	trained by hard experience	followed by in, and the training was not in a school
screens	shows on a screen	examines and filters	the object is applicants, candidates, samples
seasoned	flavored	experienced	modifies a person
settled	made a home in	resolved, arranged	settled a dispute, a bill, a question
spare	extra, held in reserve	plain, unadorned	modifies prose, a room, a style
spent	paid out	exhausted, used up	modifies a person or a body
sustained	maintained, kept up	suffered, incurred	the object is damage, a loss, an injury
table	a piece of furniture	postpone (American usage)	to table a motion means postpone here, present in British usage

Word	Familiar sense	Less-familiar sense	Context clue
taxed	levied money on	strained, burdened	the object is patience, resources, credulity
telling	saying, recounting	revealing, significant	modifies a detail, a silence, a pause
tempered	hardened, as metal is	moderated, made less extreme	a tempered claim, response, enthusiasm
wanting	desiring	lacking, falling short	found wanting, or wanting in detail
weathered	worn by exposure	came through, endured	a person or institution weathers a crisis
wed	married	firmly attached to an idea	followed by to, and the object is a theory

The pattern across all fifty: read the sentence’s actual demand before letting the familiar sense answer for you. If the familiar meaning would make the sentence say something odd or contradictory, the word is very likely carrying its other sense.