Vocabulary and Word Meaning in Context
What the questions test
Vocabulary items ask what a word means as used in the passage. The correct answer fits the sentence's meaning, not just a dictionary definition you happen to know.
Concepts to master
- Context clues. Surrounding words hint at meaning:
- Definition clues: "a nocturnal animal, one that is active at night" - the phrase after the comma defines the word.
- Example clues: "citrus fruits such as oranges and lemons" - examples narrow the meaning.
- Contrast clues: "unlike her quiet brother, Maya was gregarious" - the contrast signals the opposite of quiet.
- Cause/effect clues: "The road was treacherous, so drivers slowed down" - the effect suggests danger.
- Multiple meanings. Many words have several senses (bank, run, light, hard). Choose the sense that fits the sentence.
- Word forms. Recognize roots, prefixes, and suffixes: un- (not), re- (again), -less (without), -ful (full of). This helps with unfamiliar words.
- Tone words. Words like insist, admit, complain reveal attitude; matching tone can identify meaning.
Traps to watch for
- The familiar-but-wrong sense. A common meaning of the word may appear as a choice but not fit the sentence.
- Similar-looking words. Affect/effect, principle/principal, adapt/adopt are easily confused.
- Too extreme. Choices with always, completely, extremely often overshoot a moderate word.
- Ignoring the sentence. Never answer from the word alone; always plug the choice back into the sentence and reread.
Rule of thumb
Use the substitution test: replace the target word with each answer choice and reread the full sentence. The correct choice keeps the sentence's meaning intact and its grammar natural.
Worked example: "The instructions were ambiguous, so two workers did the job differently." The result (different methods) shows ambiguous means unclear or open to more than one interpretation - not "difficult" or "lengthy."