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:
A. Bored
B. Irritated
C. Idiotic
D. 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
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.
A. Place where trials are held
B. Surface for playing tennis
C. To provoke or incite
D. 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?
A. Place where trials are held
B. Surface for playing tennis
C. To provoke or incite
D. 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.”
D.
From the dictionary, Drag means
A.
A slow, deliberate motion
B.
A motion pulling against something
C.
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.”
D.
From the dictionary, Drag means
A.
A slow, deliberate motion
B.
A motion pulling against something
C.
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. A type of drum
B. A brass instrument
C. An electronic piano
D. A stringed instrument
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. A type of drum
B. A brass instrument
C. An electronic piano
D. 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. A disastrous fire
B. A group of flags
C. A church meeting
D. 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. A disastrous fire
B. A group of flags
C. A church meeting
D. 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
A.
Enthusiastic
B.
Frightened
C.
Confident
D. 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
A.
Enthusiastic
B.
Frightened
C.
Confident
D. 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:
A. Soft
B. Hesitant
C. Reluctant
D. 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:
A. Creative
B. Difficult
C. Outdated
D. 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 agoraphobia so 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.”
A.
Does stock mean
The raw material from which something is made
B. The type from which a group of animals or
plants has been made
C. A specified kind of paper
D. 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:
A. Curious
B. Foolish
C. Dangerous
D. 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
“Even after his worst days, though, in a way Charlie
Brown triumphs over adversity.”
Adversity means:
A. Hope
B. Trouble
C. Success
D. disappointment
Tip: plug the choices into the sentence
The cook ladled out a minute serving of the soup
A.
C.
D.
Does minute mean
A measure of time equal to one-sixtieth of an
hour
B. A very time amount
An official recording of the proceedings of a
meeting
A unit of angle measurement equal to onesixtieth of a degree
Tip: Watch for multiple meanings of the
word