Semantically Ambiguous Headlines

Read through the following headlines taken from actual newspapers and determine the cause of the semantic ambiguity. In most cases the problem is an ambiguous word; in the second group, however, the reference is ambiguous because of two possible predicate-argument structures.

Lexical Ambiguities

1. Prostitutes appeal to Pope
2. Queen Mary has bottom scraped
3. Police begin campaign to run down jaywalkers
4. Child's stool great for use in garden
5. Blind woman gets new kidney from dad she hasn't seen in years
6. Deaf mute gets new hearing (in killing)
7. Iraqi head seeks arms
8. Safety experts say school bus passengers should be belted

"Structural" Ambiguities

1. Never withhold herpes from loved one
2. Cold wave linked to temperatures
3. Child's death ruins couple's holiday
4. Something went wrong in jet crash, experts say
5. Autos killing 110 a day, let's resolve to do better
6. Panda mating fails - veterinarian takes over
7. Quarter of a million Chinese live on water
8. Death causes loneliness, feeling of isolation
9. Two sisters reunite after eighteen years at checkout counter