Steps in Determining a Word’s Meaning Using Context Clues
1.
Read to the end of the sentence. If it doesn’t contain any helpful
information, read the next sentence also.
3.
Pronounce the word and see if it reminds you of another word.
3.
Identify the part of speech: noun, verb, adjective, adverb.
4.
Look at the various parts of the word: the beginning, middle and end.
Look at the end. See if the suffixes (e.g., -tion, -ly) and inflections
(e.g., past tense, plurals) help you know the part of speech.
Look at the beginning. See if there is a prefix (e.g., pre-, il-) that
changes the meaning of the word.
Look at the middle of the word. See if you recognize a word root
(e.g., graph, lit-, geo-) that tells about the word’s origin.
5.
See if there is a useful appositive, example, synonym or antonym.
6.
Substitute another word you know that seems to fit logically.
7.
Confirm in the dictionary if your predicted definition is accurate.
(Kate Kinsella, San Francisco State University, 4/07)