Correct answer: Denotation. The true meaning of a word is its denotation.
The denotation of a word is its explicit/direct meaning. It can be the associations that a word usually elicits for most speakers of a language because of personal experience. For example, the words "home" and "house" have similar denotations: a home is a shelter (usual residence of a family), and a house is a building (where people live).
The denotation of a word is its standardized meaning within the English language.
