English Exercises > Other printables exercises

Downloadable worksheets: Ambiguity- double meaning Level: elementary Age: 9-100 Downloads: 14   Ambiguity of tolerance Level: advanced Age: 14-17 Downloads: 13   Clear Writing - Avoiding Ambiguity Level: advanced Age: 14-17 Downloads: 6   How to use commas for ambiguity Level: intermediate Age: 9-11 Downloads: 7   Figurative Language Level: intermediate Age: 14-16 Downloads: 10   Ambiguous sentences Level: intermediate Age: 12-100 Downloads: 5

Ambiguity      Read the comic strip.  The humor is based on ambiguity.  That means that the words can be interpreted in more than one way.  Communication fails because one person in the story doesn't interpret the ambiguous statement correctly.  That's the humor!         Explain the ambiguity.  The boy meant that , but the girl thinks he means that.          The ambiguity in this comic strip is based on a word that has more than one meaning.  The woman means that , but the man believes that .   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23uHwF2qiZA                In this joke, the ambiguity is funny because the listener thought the police officer was asking if the kangaroo could .  However, the police officer meant that both the kangaroo and the Empire State Building could . He was really asking .   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd4DIxBMAUs          The ambiguous word in this joke is .  When this word is a verb, it means , but when it is a noun it means .           The person who painted this thought the ambiguity was funny.  Most people expect to see the "thumbs up" icon on a post in .  Instead, the painter drew the "thumbs up" on a  that is a .            The person who created this meme wants to trick people.  When he tells them that he walks 5 miles every day, most people will believe that .  In truth, he only .          Whoever posted this was not trying to be funny.  This person did not realize that the sign was ambiguous.  In fact, it is ambiguous in at least 2 ways.  First, it isn't clear whether people are just eating or if they are eating .  Second, the readers can't be sure if they are supposed to clean up after their  or clean up after the  or clean up after the !      Rewrite the sign so that everyone who reads it will interpret it in the same way.  You will need to write several sentences:            This man is being ambiguous about ambiguity!  Please help him by writing a clear definition of ambiguity here: .          NOTE- Please don't be discouraged if the computer gives you a low score on this exercise.  You may have the right ideas, but choose different words than I did to express them.  Your teacher will review your work before assigning you a score.