Use Nearby Words to Figure Out a New Word
Quill the clever raven sits perched on a stack of open books in a cozy library nook, tilting her head curiously at a sentence on a glowing page, then tapping a nearby word with her feathered wing as if pointing out a secret hiding in plain sight.
- Identify nearby words and phrases in a sentence that give clues to an unfamiliar word's meaning.
- Explain in your own words what a context clue is and why it helps readers.
- Predict the meaning of an unknown word by reading the whole sentence around it.
- Compare what a word might mean with what the surrounding text actually supports.
Key terms
- context clue
- a nearby word that hints at a meaning
- mystery word
- a new word you do not know yet
- describing clue
- words that paint a picture of meaning
- opposite clue
- a word that means the opposite nearby
Words Help Words
When you meet a word you do not know, do not stop. Keep reading the whole sentence. The other words are your friends. They drop little hints, like clues in a mystery. Those hints help your brain guess what the new word means. This is called using context clues, and it makes you a smart, brave reader.
Be A Word Detective
A good detective looks all around for clues. Read the words before the new word and after it. Look for things that describe it, like wet, dry, big, or sad. Then make your best guess. Last, put your guess back into the sentence. Does it make good sense? If yes, you cracked the case! If no, look for more clues nearby.
Worked examples
Find the meaning of "famished" here
- Read it all: "She was famished, so she ate three big sandwiches."
- Spot the clue: she ate three big sandwiches.
- Guess: famished means very, very hungry.
Answer: famished means very hungry
Activity
Read each sentence and drag the best meaning to match the bold mystery word.
Practice
Read a sentence and guess what the bold mystery word means.
Point to the nearby words that gave you the helpful clue.
Common mistakes to avoid
- I must use a dictionaryOften the nearby words give you the meaning first.
Check your understanding
Read this sentence: "The timid kitten hid under the bed and trembled whenever someone came near." What does "timid" most likely mean?
A student reads: "The ancient ruins were so old that parts of the walls had crumbled to dust." She thinks "ancient" means beautiful because ruins can look beautiful in pictures. Is she using context clues correctly?
Which sentence gives the BEST context clue for the word "scorching"?
Recap
New words do not have to scare you. Read the whole sentence and look for clues all around the mystery word. Make a smart guess, then check that it fits. You are a word detective now!
Reflect
Which clue helped you guess a word today?