Context clue

Question 1

antonym

Answer 1

a word opposite in meaning to another word

Question 2

context clue

Answer 2

information in a sentence or paragraph that helps define an unknown word

Question 3

infer

Answer 3

to conclude by reasoning based on given information or past personal experiences

Question 4

synonym

Answer 4

a word that has about the same meaning as another word

Question 5

Examples

Answer 5

Some authors use examples in the sentence or paragraph to give clues to a word’s meaning. The examples may be set apart from the text by commas or parentheses. Key phrases like “such as,” “including,” and “consists of” give you tips or clues that examples will follow. The following sentence demonstrates how an example is used in a sentence to give a context clue.

Question 6

Antonyms and Contrasts

Answer 6

Sometimes, it is easier for the writer to give you clues about what a word’s definition is by telling you what it is not. You may see an antonym prefaced by the word not to show the contrast between the two things.

Question 7

Experiences

Answer 7

Making inferences means using your personal experiences to help you understand the context of a piece of writing. If we did not have our past experiences to help us understand situations or feelings of characters, understanding reading would be much more difficult. Sometimes a writer uses words that you should know, but maybe you have only heard them and are not sure of their meaning. You may experience this when reading a newspaper or higher-level textbook.