SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 17 September 2025, Shift 2 · English Comprehension · Question 13 of 99

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Select the sentence containing the homonym of the highlighted word: The ancient sconce held a flickering torch along the corridor.

(a)The thief smashed the wall sconce and fled.
(b)The student was sconced for violating tradition.
(c)The bronze sconce was engraved with floral motifs.
(d)The hallway featured a new LED sconce.

Answer

Why

Correct — B. In the stem, sconce is a noun: a bracket fixed to a wall to hold a candle, torch or lamp.

In option (b) it is a verb, was sconced, meaning fined for breaking a rule or custom, a usage dictionaries record as old Oxford University slang. It fits for violating tradition.

Same form, unrelated meaning: that is the homonym, option (b).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
The thief smashed the wall sconce and fled. — wall sconce is the same light bracket as in the stem, only this time smashed by a thief. The meaning is unchanged, so it is not a homonym.
(c)
The bronze sconce was engraved with floral motifs. — bronze sconce is the same fixture, described by its metal and engraved motifs. The word keeps the stem's meaning throughout.
(d)
The hallway featured a new LED sconce. — LED sconce is the electric version of the same wall bracket. The bulb has changed, but the meaning of the word has not.

Concept

A homonym is a word with the same form as another but an unrelated meaning. The task is to find the sentence where sconce means something other than the stem's wall light.

Options (a), (c) and (d) change the setting, the metal or the bulb, but each still describes the same fixture. Option (b) alone uses the word as a verb with a different sense.

If the verb sense is new to you, eliminate: three sentences plainly describe a wall light, so the fourth must carry the other meaning.

Key facts

Sconce (noun): a wall-mounted bracket that holds a candle, torch or electric light.
Sconce (verb): to fine a student for a breach of rules or custom, recorded as old Oxford University slang.
Ensconce is a different word: to settle someone firmly or comfortably in a place.

Study next

Homonyms that switch word class, such as stern (severe) and the stern of a shipHomographs with different pronunciations: lead, tear, woundBuilding and fixture vocabulary: corbel, oriel, vault

Common traps

Picking a sentence because its setting differs from the stem's (a thief, bronze, LED) while the word keeps its meaning.
Reading sconced as ensconced, which would mean settled comfortably and does not fit for violating tradition.

The same instruction is keyed at 21 Sep 2025, 16:00, English Q.19, where stern (severe) is matched by the stern of a ship.

20 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.14 keys the metal lead against the verb lead, even though the two are pronounced differently.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Homonyms and confusables — all 29 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.