SomeEnglishwordshavemorethanonemeaning.Thesearecalledmulti-meaningwords.Multi-meaningwordshavethesamepronunciationwithdifferentmeanings.Forexamplelet’slookattheword“ball”.Youcouldhavea“ball”whichme

Question

Some English words have more than one meaning. These are called multi-meaning words.

Multi-meaning words have the same pronunciation with different meanings. For example let’s look at the word “ball”. You could have a “ball” which means you would have a good time. You could toss a “ball” which means you throw an object. You could be on the “ball” which means you know what is happening. You could go to a “ball” which means a dance.

______Take the word “can”. You “can” ride a bike which means you are able to ride a bike. You have a “can” of soup which means the soup is in a round-shaped holder. You can do the “can-can” which is a dance from the 1920s. And you might get “canned” if you do a poor job at work which means you might lose your job.

How about “fly”? You can “fly” an airplane or you can hit a “fly” that is on your food in your house. Or you can “fly by the seat of your pants” which means you don’t make a plan before taking an action. And you know that the “fly” of a zipper（拉链）is the top part of the zipper.

There are hundreds of words that are multi-meaning words. The word “set” has more meanings than any other word in the English language. When you have time why don’t you try to think of all the ways the word “set” is used?

 If you look at the title of this book Can a Fly Fly? ... you know that the answer is “Yes” because you have seen an insect named a “fly” go up in the air and move around through the air…which is what “fly” means. Can a Fly Fly? Of course it can!

1. If Tom is often late for work and fails to finish his tasks he will_______

   A. do the can-can    B. get canned    C. be on the ball    D. go to a ball

2. According to the passage the word “______” has the most meanings in the English language.

   A. ball     B. can     C. set      D. fly

3. Which of the following is the best sentence to fill in the blank in paragraph 3?

   A. Let’s try another word.               B. Let’s make a word list.

   C. Here’s a survey report.               D. Here’s the guessing game.

4. The writer writes the passage in order to _______.

   A. tell a story about learning English words

   B. introduce a book on learning English words

   C. share an experience in learning English words

   D. present different pronunciations of the same word

Answer 1

1B  2C  3A  4B