What are context clues? How can I figure out what unknown words mean?

What are context clues? How can I figure out what unknown words mean?

Notes: Context Clues: Hints an author gives in a text to help you define difficult or unusual words

Context clues will give you a good guess about what the word means. Use the dictionary to look up how to spell, not the meaning of words.

Types of Guesses Educated guess: a guess based on some thought or logic. Blind guess: a guess made randomly or by closing eyes and picking an answer. Context clues allow you to make educated guesses which are MUCH more likely to be correct.

Why use context clues? The best way to excel on the TCAP is to have a large vocabulary. The more words you know, the easier it is to understand the passages and the questions. Your independent reading is a huge source of new vocabulary to be learned.

Tip 1: Reread around the unknown word looking for words with similar meanings

Example: “His father did not intend to be cruel, but he was himself a hard-working man, an early riser, and a swift workman, and it seemed a natural and necessary thing to have his sons work. He himself had been bound out at nine years of age, and he had never known a week’s release from toil.” Underline words similar in meaning to toil Guess what does toil mean?

What words are similar in meaning to toil? “His father did not intend to be cruel, but he was himself a hard-working man, an early riser, and a swift workman, and it seemed a natural and necessary thing to have his sons work. He himself had been bound out at nine years of age, and he had never known a week’s release from toil.” Underline words similar in meaning to toil Guess what does toil means: Hard work

Example: “Moe was obviously vexed; Larry never had seen him looking so annoyed with Curly” Underline the word similar to vexed? Guess what vexed means.

Example: “Moe was obviously vexed; Larry never had seen him looking so annoyed with Curly” Underline the word similar to vexed? Guess vexed means: upset, frustrated

“Moe was obviously vexed; Larry never had seen him looking so annoyed with Curly” Vexed means: Bored Irritated Idiotic Entertained

Tip 2: Look for signal words to tell you the unknown word’s opposite. Sample signal words: except, but, unlike, instead.

Example: “Not all commercial websites are untrustworthy. Indeed, many sites are reputable sources of information on the topics they discuss.” Circle the signal word. Underline the opposite meaning words. Guess what does reputable mean?

Example: “Not all commercial websites are untrustworthy. Indeed, many sites are reputable sources of information on the topics they discuss.” Circle the signal word. Underline the opposite meaning words. What does reputable mean? Trustworthy

Example: “What a shock! We had expected him to be morose, but he showed up at the party and danced until dawn, wearing a constant smile on his untroubled face.” Circle the signal words. Underline the words or phrases mean the opposite of morose? Guess what does morose mean?

What words or phrases mean the opposite of morose? “What a shock! We had expected him to be morose, but he showed up at the party and danced until dawn, wearing a constant smile on his untroubled face.” Morose means: sad

Tip 3: Look for hints from the author – a definition in the text or footnotes, restatement of the idea in a different way.

Example “The coulter (cutting part of the plough) went into the ground.” Underline the author’s hint for the meaning of coulter

Tip 4: Don’t be fooled by multiple meaning words Some words have several meanings. (Craft can mean “a skill requiring use of the hands”, “a small boat”, or “clever trickiness” Go back to the passage and read how the word was used. Don’t be fooled by the most common definition of a word.

Example: “Hillary knew that Big Ed meant to court her the moment he offered her the first drink from his diet root beer.” Guess which of the following definitions of court is used in the sentence? Circle your answer. Place where trials are held Surface for playing tennis To provoke or incite To seek the affections or love of a person

Example: “Hillary knew that Big Ed meant to court her the moment he offered her the first drink from his diet root beer.” Which of the following definitions of court is used in the sentence? Place where trials are held Surface for playing tennis To provoke or incite To seek the affections or love of a person

Example: “His heart was sometimes very bitter and rebellious, because of the relentless drag of his daily toil.” From the dictionary, Drag means A slow, deliberate motion A motion pulling against something A burden that creates much hardship A device used to pull something along the ground These are all definitions of “drag”. Guess which makes sense in the sentence? Circle the best answer.

Example: “His heart was sometimes very bitter and rebellious, because of the relentless drag of his daily toil.” From the dictionary, Drag means A slow, deliberate motion A motion pulling against something A burden that creates much hardship A device used to pull something along the ground These are all definitions of “drag”. Which makes sense in the sentence?

Tip 5: Determine the category of words in a list You might not know every word in the list, but the words will be part of the same category.

Example: “Jeb thought that if he could play the trumpet, then he could play them all: trombone, French horn, flugelhorn, tuba, bugle and cornet.” Underline the other words in the category Guess what is a flugelhorn? A type of drum A brass instrument An electronic piano A stringed instrument

Example: “Jeb thought that if he could play the trumpet, then he could play them all: trombone, Frenchhorn, flugelhorn, tuba, bugle and cornet.” Underline the other words in the category Guess what is a flugelhorn? A type of drum A brass instrument An electronic piano A stringed instrument

Tip 6: Use cause-and-effect relationships to understand new words. (One thing happened because of another or one thing caused another.)

Example: “George dropped a smoking match in the forest, and the next day there was a conflagration.” Underline what caused the conflagration Guess what word you’d use for the effect. Conflagration means A disastrous fire A group of flags A church meeting A harsh warning

Example: “George dropped a smoking match in the forest, and the next day there was a conflagration.” Underline what caused the conflagration Guess what word you’d use for the effect. FIRE! Conflagration means A disastrous fire A group of flags A church meeting A harsh warning

Example: “The amateur magician grew more and more chagrined as members of her audience yelled out the supposed secret to every trick.” Underline what is the cause of the chagrin. Guess how would you feel if this happened to you in front of an audience? Chagrined means Enthusiastic Frightened Confident Embarrassed

Example: “The amateur magician grew more and more chagrined as members of her audience yelled out the supposed secret to every trick.” Underline what is the cause of the chagrin. Guess how would you feel if this happened to you in front of an audience? Upset. Chagrined means Enthusiastic Frightened Confident Embarrassed

Tip 7: Use the meaning of roots, prefixes and suffixes to help you guess the meaning of a word

Example: Take the word “prehistoric” Guess what is the root? Guess what does the prefix mean? Guess what does prehistoric mean?

Example: Take the word “prehistoric” Guess what is the root? Prehistoric - history Guess what does the prefix mean? Prehistoric - before Guess what does prehistoric mean? Before history

Tip 8: For multiple choice questions, plug in the answer choices to see which one makes the most sense in the sentence

Example: “At last it began to grow cold, so cold that in the early morning he was obliged to put one hand in his pocket to keep it warm, while holding the plough with the other.” Obliged means: A. Told B. Forced C. Asked D. Honored

Example: “. . . His father’s imperious voice rang out, “Come Lincoln, time to hitch up.” Imperious means: Soft Hesitant Reluctant Commanding

Example: “Melvin believed that someday the finger holes in bowling balls would be obsolete; people would simply bowl telepathically, with their minds.” obsolete means: Creative Difficult Outdated Plentiful

Test you knowledge what tip will you use to define the underlined word? Sammy is in charge of purchasing the salt, pepper, ketchup and other condiments Tip: Determine the category

Test you knowledge what tip will you use to define the underlined word? The voracious dog hadn’t eaten in two days Tip: Cause and Effect

Test you knowledge what tip will you use to define the underlined word? Julie used to procrastinate when it was time to practice her trumpet; she always had trouble getting started. Tip: Hints from the author

Test you knowledge what tip will you use to define the underlined word? Susanna went to a dermatologist for medicine to control an itchy rash Tip: Cause and effect

Test you knowledge what tip will you use to define the underlined word? Richard suffered from agoraphobiaso he had a fear of leaving his home. Tip: Hints from the author

Test you knowledge what tip will you use to define the underlined word? Jean’s voice was almost inaudible. I couldn’t hear her if I was more than a few inches away. Tip: Look for words with similar meanings

Test you knowledge what tip will you use to define the underlined word? There is an abundance of theaters in Miami, but very few here in Lakeland. Tip #1: Look for words with opposite meanings

“Make the cards out of 80 pound card stock.” Does stock mean The raw material from which something is made The type from which a group of animals or plants has been made A specified kind of paper The handle of a fishing rod Tip: Watch for multiple meanings of the word

Test you knowledge what tip will you use to define the underlined word? Michael was looking for a definite answer, and was annoyed by the politician’s evasive reply. Tip: Look for words with opposite meanings

“Not understanding the danger of mountain lions in the area, the witless calf called for his mother.” Witless means: Curious Foolish Dangerous Young Tip: plug the choices into the sentence

Test you knowledge what tip will you use to define the underlined word? The vertebrae of an animal generally are the bones that run down the center of the back Tip: hints from the author

What are context clues? How can I figure out what unknown words mean?