在英语学习中， 我们因阅读量有限， 很难遇到和掌握每个多义词的各个意义， 因此， 在试卷中不可避免地会出现熟词生义。这给我们造成理解上的障碍， 特别是完形填空。
例如高考英语全国Ⅲ卷完形填空中的第53题的答案bearing。学生往往熟悉bear 做名词， 表示“熊”， 他们很难想到bearing 表示“携带” 的意义：
53. He turned up at the hospital 53 gifts for the new mother Lindsey and her baby boy.
A. bearing B. collecting C. opening D. making
下面我们选取的几道高考真题，第二栏是标注的熟义，你可以在第三栏里写下在句子中的生义。一起来试试吧！1. One more look and he noticed flames shooting out from under the vehicle. ( 2016 年全国I 卷)2. Once fire and emergency people arrived, Larry and the other man backed off. ( 2016 年全国I 卷)3. Sitting back in the car on the way to airport, I figured_it all out. (2016 年全国II 卷)4. Football season started in September and all summer long I worked out. I carried my football everywhere for practice. (2016 年全国III 卷)5. I then made it a point to attend those meetings and learn all I could. (2017年全国I 卷)6. Freddy was an average_student, but not an average person.(2017年全国II 卷)7. A Toronto man is offering a free round-the-world air ticket to the right woman. But restrictions apply. ( 2017 年全国III卷)8. Jordan Axani, 28, said he and his then girlfriend, Elizabeth Gallagher, booked heavily discounted round -the -world air tickets in May. (2017 年全国III 卷)9. Maurice Ashley was kind and smart, a former graduate returning to teach, and this job was no game for him; he meant business. ( 2018年全国I 卷)10. On every single move you have to analyze a situation, process what your opponent (对手) is doing and evaluate the best move from among all your options.” (2018 年全国I 卷)11. I saw there were two instructors on board and a man lying across the middle. He was shaking violently. (2018 年全国II卷)12. When most of us get a text message on our cell phone from an unknown person, we usually say “sorry, wrong number!”and move on. ( 2018 年全国III 卷)
1.vi. 冒出 2. conj. 一……就 3. vt. (out) 弄明白 4. vi. 锻炼 5. n. 特别留意 6. adj. 普通的 7. vi 适用 8. adj. 当时的 9. n. 要事（mean business 是认真的） 10. vt. 审视 11. adv. 猛烈地 12. n. 文本
怎么样？你写对了多少呢？纵观高考试题，熟词生义主要涉及四个方面，即：动词偏义现象、名词偏义现象、形容词偏义现象、词性活用导致偏义现象。
1. They had been such a happy distraction(调剂) that I have saved all the postcards and still bring them out to read when I need a lift.2. Angela was all smiles and broke the news to Amy and Daniel.3.On the day Joe graduate, he presented the teacher with his most precious possession----the picture of a bright yellow sun. On the picture Joe had written: This is the day I woke up to my brightness.4. I felt a little uneasy, but to my relief, I had a good excuse: A business had run over and I'd wasted no time getting to the dinner.1. Upon awaking, I went to the kitchen to start the coffee, tea and morning goodies... I stood the shocked, crying a river, asking myself how my son could afford this expensive gift. Of course, the house awoke, and my son was thrilled with my reaction.2.To get an education, he has struggling against many difficulties. His family was poor. His dad couldn't afford the board at college, so Dale had to ride horseback 12 miles to attend classes.3. For a moment after my father sat down at the keyboard, he simply stared down at his fingers. Has he forgotten the notes.4. I’m not suggesting you ignore problems, or that you pretend things are better than they are, but simply that you learn to allow things to be as they are——at least most of the time, and especially when it’s not a really big deal.1.What was supposed to be a stopgap (权宜之计) trip turned into a new life. I kept travelling between London and here and felt lighter than I had in months.2.Just sitting in the wheelchair was a learning experience. I had never considered before how awkward it would be to use one.1. I was growing up in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1960s, when children from different races and religious stayed and studied together in harmony. At that time my family lived a stone's throw from Ismail’s.2. While nursing her ill elder sister throughout the years, Charlotte discovered she had an interest in medicine.针对熟词生义这一命题趋势，我们在复习中就应该特别注意以下几点：首先，培养自己在语境中猜词悟义的能力。依托语境和已有的知识进行合理的推断和猜测。这一能力需要扎实的基本功和驾驭语言的能力，要善于利用已有的知识对词汇的意义进行延伸理解，捕捉与所给语言环境意义相关联的信息，从而做出符合语境的判断。其次，加大知识储备的力度，注意积累，不断扩充词汇量。在复习中对那些平时比较熟悉的词汇不要满足于知其一，更要知其二，这就要在学习中多查阅词典。查词典时，不应把重点放在我们熟悉的词条上，应继续研读后面词条的意思，深究词汇的内涵。这样，既可以拓宽自己的知识视野，也完善了已有的知识储备库。英文中有句谚语：Familiarity breeds contempt.（熟生蔑；亲近生轻侮）。不过，对于常见词可不要“熟生蔑”，否则吃大亏！希望同学们在复习中重视熟词生义的积累，减少不应有的失分。