Lexical ambiguity studies show that people access ambiguous words based on
A) the identification of a single meaning for that word.
B) the meaning dominance of each definition of the word.
C) the word that comes immediately before and the word that comes immediately after the ambiguous word in the sentence.
D) a bottom-up progression of meaning comprehension.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Studies on lexical ambiguity have shown that people access multiple meanings of an ambiguous word simultaneously. However, the meaning dominance of each definition determines which meaning is selected and used in the interpretation of the sentence. This suggests that the selection of a meaning is not a random process, but instead is based on the relative strength of each meaning.

Lexical Ambiguity Studies Show That People Access Ambiguous Words Based