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Context Clues

Learn how to decipher new words using context clues such as punctuation marks and key words in sentences. Enhance your vocabulary skills by understanding the surrounding text to determine the meaning of unfamiliar terms.

patrickrodriquez
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Context Clues

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  1. Context Clues How to be a Reading Detective

  2. What Are Context Clues? • One way to figure out new words is to use context clues. • Context means “the parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede (come before) and/or follow a word or passage and clarify its meaning.” • Context clues are hints that an author gives to help define a difficult or unusual words. • They are usually nearby the difficult or confusing word.

  3. Context Clues: Punctuation Marks • Punctuation marks, like commas ( , ) or dashes ( - ) can help you understand how the word is being used. • Example: A ceiling fan uses the same energy as a 40 watt incandescent light bulb, the normal screw-in type light bulb. • Incandescentis a big word, but if we look at the words after the comma, we can get a hint of what it means. It says “normal screw-in type light bulb,” so we can probably guess that incandescent might mean the same thing as a normal light bulb. • Example: During the song's crescendo, the part where the music gets louder, the trumpets can be heard over the singer's voice. • Crescendo is another big word, but if we look at the words after the comma, we can guess that it might mean when the music gets louder.

  4. Context Clues: Key Words • Key words, like “and,” “or,” and “that is” can also give you a hint that a definition is nearby. • Example: Good ventilationor air flow can help the people in the room feel cooler. Ceiling fans give better indoor ventilation. • Since it says “ventilation OR air flow,” we can assume that ventilation and air flow probably mean the same thing. • If we replace the word “ventilation” in the second sentence with “air flow,” it still makes sense: Ceiling fans give better indoor air flow. • Replacing the word in the sentence with what you think it might mean helps you determine if your definition makes sense. • Example: Blake studied every facet of the statue, and every part of it impressed him. • Looking at the words that follow “and,” we can guess that “facet” might mean “part.” • If we replace “facet” with “part,” the sentence still makes sense.

  5. Tip: Read the entire paragraph! Sometimes a word’s definition may become clearer by reading the entire paragraph where it appears.

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