Name: ______________________ Hour: ____
How to Write Context-Rich Sentences
English -- Willhite
You will be responsible for writing context rich (C-R) sentences in your
notebooks for all of your vocabulary words. This is how you practice your understanding
of the meaning and how to use the word. It is much more than just writing a sentence
using the vocabulary word correctly. Sentences that are rich in context clues about a
vocabulary word either suggest its meaning strongly or actually share what it means.
Even if a person had never heard of the vocabulary word before, the context within the
sentence should give a pretty good idea of the meaning of the word. This can be
accomplished a number of ways:
1. Synonyms/ similar words
2. Antonyms/opposite or
contrasting words
3. Definitions or explanations
4. Descriptions or examples
1. Synonyms/ similar words:
Mr. Underhill once fed dinner to the villagers and his splendid repast
included delicious and rare food and wine. Even if I did not know the meaning of
“repast”, this sentence would give me a good idea because of the synonym,
“dinner.”
2. Antonyms/opposite or contrasting words:
For bike racing, Mrs. Jensen preferred to wear clothes made of natural
fibers that breathed like cotton, rather than clothes from synthetic blends. Using
an opposite or antonym like “natural” to contrast helps me understand that
“synthetic” would mean “fake” or “man-made.”
3. Definitions or explanations:
Those people with more library cards than credit cards are likely to be
bibliophiles because that shows a love for books. After the word “because”, the
vocabulary word was essentially re-defined.
4.Descriptions or examples:
Sending a card when someone is grieving, offering a shoulder to cry on,
sharing work if someone is overburdened are some examples of how
sympathy is shown. Examples were listed describing “sympathy.”
*Not acceptable: Andrew Carnegie was a great philanthropist. Even though this is true, there is
no context richness added, so “philanthropist” could be replaced by “acrobat” or “fisherman.” To
give it context richness, add “because he gave away millions of dollars for good causes.”
Context-rich? How?
Using 0 if it is not a context-rich sentence, please use category
numbers 1-4 to show how context was added.
1. Synonyms/ similar words
2. Antonyms/opposite or contrasting words
3. Definitions or explanations
4.Descriptions or examples
 Answer with your fingers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
Example: It startled me when right in the middle of our conversation,
Peter turned around abruptly and walked out of the room! 0, 1, 2, 3,
1. Mrs. Stucky and Mrs. Willhite are bibliophiles. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
2. One side of the room was the mirror image of the other which gave the
room perfect symmetry. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
3. Jewish families gathered at the synagogue to worship and pray.
0, 1, 2, 3, 4
4. The emperor did not come from the Archipelago. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
5. Symptoms of a cold may include a runny nose, cough, or fever.
0, 1, 2, 3, 4
6. A central belief in Eastern philosophy is that the group is more important
than the individual. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
7. To be philharmonic, one must love the arts. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
8. If the sentence surrounds the vocabulary word with context, a Martian
could guess the word’s meaning! 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
9. Please don’t philander in the halls! 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
10. Instead of writing synonyms for the words, the English teacher wrote their
antonyms or words of opposite or contrasting meaning. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
11. Officer Barkley attended a symposium on school safety where he learned
lockdown techniques. 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
12. The wizard brewed a philter or potion to make the princess fall in love.
0, 1, 2, 3, 4
13. The philodendron liked to climb around the trellis made of tree branches.
0, 1, 2, 3, 4