Spanish Words with Multiple Meanings
As if learning Spanish wasn’t tough enough, there are also many Spanish words with multiple meanings dependent on context and where you are in the Spanish speaking world. The same also occurs in English - think bark, foil and letter!
When learning a language, we know how important context is. You are probably familiar with most of the words below, but in some cases are unlikely to know about the double meanings.
We hope that this list will come in handy during your travels and prevent any mishaps!
Spanish words with multiple meanings
- Familiar
Familiar can be used to mean something that is familiar to someone or something and can also be used to express something that is ‘of the family’ or ‘familial'.
- Nada
Nada can mean ‘nothing’ or the third person conjugation of nadar (to swim).
- Banco
You probably know the use of banco as ‘bank’, but did you also know that it can mean bench, such as in ‘park bench’? It can also mean shoal as in a shoal of fish, or a place of storage similar as in English such as in ‘food bank’ or ‘word bank’.
- Blanco
White or a target!
- Carrera
This can mean someone’s profession or university qualification. It can also mean a race!
- Capital
Capital has the same double meaning in Spanish as it does English! It can refer to someone’s wealth or the capital of a country or province.
- Derecho
Derecho has a lot of meanings in Spanish, but the two most common are rights (in the legal sense) and straight as in ‘straight on’.
- Alto
Alto can mean tall or to halt.
- Estación
Estación can be a bus or train station, but can also refer to the four seasons.
- Muñeca
Muñeca means both wrist and doll.
We hope you find the list of Spanish words with multiple meanings useful! Be sure to check back for similar blogs like this in future. If you have any suggestion for blog topics that you’d find helpful, reach out to our team on our social media!
Can you wrap your tongue around these Spanish tongue twisters?
