<P> Lexical ambiguity can be addressed by algorithmic methods that automatically associate the appropriate meaning with a word in context, a task referred to as word sense disambiguation . </P> <P> The use of multi-defined words requires the author or speaker to clarify their context, and sometimes elaborate on their specific intended meaning (in which case, a less ambiguous term should have been used). The goal of clear concise communication is that the receiver (s) have no misunderstanding about what was meant to be conveyed . An exception to this could include a politician whose "weasel words" and obfuscation are necessary to gain support from multiple constituents with mutually exclusive conflicting desires from their candidate of choice . Ambiguity is a powerful tool of political science . </P> <P> More problematic are words whose senses express closely related concepts . "Good", for example, can mean "useful" or "functional" (That's a good hammer), "exemplary" (She's a good student), "pleasing" (This is good soup), "moral" (a good person versus the lesson to be learned from a story), "righteous", etc . "I have a good daughter" is not clear about which sense is intended . The various ways to apply prefixes and suffixes can also create ambiguity ("unlockable" can mean "capable of being unlocked" or "impossible to lock"). </P> <P> Syntactic ambiguity arises when a sentence can have two (or more) different meanings because of the structure of the sentence--its syntax . This is often due to a modifying expression, such as a prepositional phrase, the application of which is unclear . "He ate the cookies on the couch", for example, could mean that he ate those cookies that were on the couch (as opposed to those that were on the table), or it could mean that he was sitting on the couch when he ate the cookies . "To get in, you will need an entrance fee of $10 or your voucher and your drivers' license ." This could mean that you need EITHER ten dollars OR BOTH your voucher and your license . Or it could mean that you need your license AND you need EITHER ten dollars OR a voucher . Only rewriting the sentence, or placing appropriate punctuation can resolve a syntactic ambiguity . For the notion of, and theoretic results about, syntactic ambiguity in artificial, formal languages (such as computer programming languages), see Ambiguous grammar . </P>

What is the meaning of the word ambiguity