Auto-antonyms

This list consists of five words, each defined twice. The words are special not because they have more than one definition, but because two of their definitions are nearly opposites of one another-these words can be considered antonyms of themselves. The existence of these words, which can mean contradictory things, highlights the importance of context in language. Outside of a context these words can be confusing, but in a conversation or written passage they almost never are, and it is only upon reflection that we realize the strange nature of these words.