Context Clues: Hints an author gives in a

text to help you define difficult or

unusual words

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Context clues will give you a good guess about what the word means.

S.A.L.E into finding the meaning!

Synonym—Sometimes an unknown word is defined by the use of a synonym. Example: The wardrobe, or closet, was filled with clothes.

Antonym— Sometimes an unknown word is defined by the use of an antonym. Antonym clues will often use Signal Words: e.g. however, not, but, in contrast, etc.

Example: He signaled a looey, not a right turn.

Logic—Your own knowledge about surrounding words and the sentence situation may provide clues to meaning.

Example: He petted the canis minor, and then made her sit up and beg for a bone.

Example—When part of a list of examples or if the unknown word itself provides an example, these are good clues to meaning. Example clues will often use Signal Words: e.g. for example, like, such as, etc.

Example: Adventurous, rowdy, and crazy pioneers all found their way out west.

Tip 1:Reread around the

unknown word looking for words

with similar meanings

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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.”

Find key words that may tell you what toil means.

Guess what does toil mean?

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Tip 2:Look for signal words

to tell you the unknown word’s

opposite. Sample signal words:

except, but, unlike, instead.

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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?

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Tip 3:Look for hints from the author – a definition in the text or footnotes,

restatement of the idea in a different way.

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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 wordsSome 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.

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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 heldB.Surface for playing tennis

C.To provoke or inciteD.To seek the affections or

love of a person

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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.

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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 categoryGuess what is a flugelhorn?

A. A type of drumB. A brass instrumentC. An electronic piano

D. A stringed instrument

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Tip 6:Use cause-and-effect

relationships to understand new words.

(One thing happened because of another or

one thing caused another.)

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Example:“George dropped a smoking match in the

forest, and the next day there was a conflagration.”

Underline what caused the conflagrationGuess what word you’d use for the effect.

Conflagration meansA. A disastrous fireB. A group of flags

C. A church meetingD. A harsh warning