LearningTreeLogo
Welcome, Student Name
| Student Demo |
Buy Now
 
Contents
Reading
 
0001 Meaning of Words and Phrases
Context Clues
Figurative or Colloquial Language
Denotative and Connotative Meanings
Synonyms or Antonyms
 
0002 Purpose, Main Idea, and Organization
 
0003 Analyze and Evaluate Ideas and Information
 
0004 Make Inferences from Ideas and Information
 
Practice Reading Tests
 

Main Menu
Exit Student Demo









Buy Now for $39.95 and begin using the entire course in less than two minutes





Understand the Meaning of Words and Phrases

Use Context Clues to Determine the Meaning of a Word

You can use the same context clues discussed on the previous page to discover the meaning of uncommon and unfamiliar words, but you may have to be even more of a detective if you do not recognize the word at all. Often, you will find examples before or after the word to give you hints.

For example:

“Planting a radio bomb on a crowded airplane, spraying a restaurant with bullets and holding hostages for years are typical of the heinous acts of terrorism today’s world fears.”

Even if you have never seen the word heinous, you could look at the examples and recognize the definition: “grossly wicked or vile.”

Still another contextual clue is the use of signal words indicating contrast. Look for words like but, however, despite, although, yet, instead, while, even though, and nevertheless to tell you that the word you want to define is the opposite of another word in the sentence or paragraph.

For example:

“David is normally loquacious, but yesterday he was almost silent.”

In the sentence the word but tells you that loquacious means the opposite of silent.

 


Previous