A separate grammatical form can vary in meaning in different contexts of its use like words that are used as signs of many things/ In case of grammatical polysemy we observe various structural meanings inherent in the given form, one of them being invariable, i.e. can be found in any context of its use.

Contextual variation of component grammatical meanings as potentially implicit in grammatical form must be distinguished from so-called syncretism, i. e. plurality of the signi¬fied.

e.g. A simple verb-form may have as al¬ways inseparably present in it, the grammemes of mood, time, person, number

he works, she works; similarly: she is, she was, etc.

The study of potential polysemy in grammar must reason¬ably be associated with the problem of functional transposi¬tions of grammatical forms leading to variation in their meaning in different contexts, linguistic or situational. Exa¬mine, for instance, the multiple semantic essence of the Present tense (Continuous Aspect) in Modern English which may express:

1. An action going on at the moment of speaking
You are behaving like a child.

2. Activities, properties
She is playing the piano well.

3. Repeated processes of increasing duration
She is always grumbling.

4. An action anticipated or plan¬ned in the future
We are seeing him tonight.

5. Order or command

You are not going in there! (= Don't go in there!)
2. Homonymy Polysemy leads to homonymy. In case of homonymy the invariable structural meaning of a given grammatical form is no longer traced in different uses of this form. Vivid exam¬ples of homonymic grammatical forms will be found in the following patterns:

1. She said she would come soon.

2. // she knew this she would come at once.

3. He would come and tell us stories.

4. We asked him to slay here but he wouldn't.

5. If George is there he would know.