Polisemy and homonipity as linguistic phenomenor Introduction. 2 Chapter I. Words as Meaningful Units. 5 1.1 Polysemy as the Source of Ambiguities in a Language. 5 1.2 Historical Development of the Polysemy. 9 1.3 The Diachronic Approach to Studying Polysemy. 13 1.4. Synchronic Approach to Studying Polysemy. 16 1.5 Polysemy and its Connection with the Context 19 Chapter.2.Homonipity as linguistic phenomenor. 23 2.1 Modern methods of investigating homonyms. 23 2.2 Practical approach in studying homonyms. 26 2.3 Polysemy and homonymy: etymological and semantic criteria. 31 Conclusions. 39 List of References. 41