Ambiguities in Chinese character simplification

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A number of Chinese characters are simplified-traditional multipairings (简繁一对多; 簡繁一對多), which do not have a one-to-one mapping between their simplified and traditional forms.^[1]

This is usually because the simplification process merged two or more distinct characters into one.^[2] In most cases, these traditional characters are homonyms, having the same pronunciation but different meanings. As a result, converting text from simplified to traditional characters is difficult to automate, especially in the case of common characters such as 后⇄後后 (behind, empress), 表⇄表錶 (table, clock), 奸⇄奸姦 (traitor, rape) and more.

In a smaller number of cases, a single traditional character is mapped to multiple simplified characters as the character is only simplified in one of its usages.

The following is an exhaustive list of all characters whose simplified and traditional forms do not map in a one-to-one manner. Simplified characters are marked with a pink background, and traditional characters with lavender.