Using Alternate Words As an Indication of Word Sense

A system comprising:

• one or more computers and one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:
• obtaining a search query;
• identifying a particular term from the search query;
• determining that the particular term is, or is potentially, a polyseme or a homograph;
• in response to determining that the particular term is, or is potentially, a polyseme or a homograph, identifying a first alternate term and a second alternate term for the particular term;
• identifying a first sequence of terms that (i) occurs in a text corpus, (ii) includes the particular term among its terms, and (iii) is different than the search query;
• determining a number of occurrences of a second sequence of terms in the text corpus, wherein the second sequence of terms differs from the first sequence of terms only in that the first alternate term is substituted for the particular term;
• determining a number of occurrences of a third sequence of terms in the text corpus, wherein the third sequence of terms differs from the first sequence of terms only in that the second alternate term is substituted for the particular term;
• and
• determining, based at least on the number of occurrences of the second sequence of terms in the text corpus and the number of occurrences of the third sequence of terms in the text corpus, whether the first alternate term and the second alternate term indicate a same word sense of the particular term.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon such execution, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

• obtaining a search query;
• identifying a particular term from the search query;
• determining that the particular term is, or is potentially, a polyseme or a homograph;
• in response to determining that the particular term is, or is potentially, a polyseme or a homograph, identifying a first alternate term and a second alternate term for the particular term;
• identifying a first sequence of terms that (i) occurs in a text corpus, (ii) includes the particular term among its terms, and (iii) is different than the search query;
• determining a number of occurrences of a second sequence of terms in the text corpus, wherein the second sequence of terms differs from the first sequence of terms only in that the first alternate term is substituted for the particular term;
• determining a number of occurrences of a third sequence of terms in the text corpus, wherein the third sequence of terms differs from the first sequence of terms only in that the second alternate term is substituted for the particular term;
• and
• determining, based at least on the number of occurrences of the second sequence of terms in the text corpus and the number of occurrences of the third sequence of terms in the text corpus, whether the first alternate term and the second alternate term indicate a same word sense of the particular term.