What Are Context Clues? Figure Out Any Word

What You'll Learn

• Context means the other words sitting around a word
• A context clue is a hint the sentence gives you about a word you don't know
• Four clue types: definition, example, synonym (a word that means the same), and antonym (a word that means the opposite)
• Signal words give clues away: "or", "which means", "such as", "but", "unlike"
• Check your guess by swapping your word in — if the sentence still makes sense, you got it

Words to Know

Context

The other words around a word

"The context told me what it meant."

Context clue

A hint in the sentence about what a word means

"'Or dangerous' was the context clue."

Synonym

A word that means almost the same thing

"Treacherous and dangerous are synonyms."

Antonym

A word that means the opposite

"Timid is the antonym of bold."

Ravenous

Extremely hungry

"The ravenous puppy ate everything."

Check What You Learned

Fun Facts

• Context clues are hints in the surrounding words that help a reader work out the meaning of an unfamiliar word

  Source: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.4.A

• The four clue types taught at this level are definition, example, synonym and antonym

  Source: Reading Rockets, "Using Context Clues"

• Signal words point at a clue: "or", "which means", "such as" and "for example" introduce a meaning, while "but" and "unlike" introduce an opposite

  Source: Reading Rockets

• Elementary students learn roughly 3,000 new words a year, and most of them are picked up incidentally from reading and listening rather than looked up

  Source: Nagy & Herman, 1987, cited by Reading Rockets

• Substituting your guess back into the sentence is the standard way to check a context-clue inference

  Source: Reading Rockets, "Using Context Clues"

• Ravenous means extremely hungry

  Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary