Context Clues: Cause and Effect

Cause and Effect

What are context clues?

Context clues are hints found within a sentence, paragraph, or passage that a reader can use to understand the meanings of new or unfamiliar words.

What is cause and effect?

The meaning of the unfamiliar word is signaled by and cause-and-effect relationship between ideas in the text.

Example: Due to my car breaking down, I was late to school.

Example 2: Due to the dearth to termintes, the aadvark starved to death.

Multiple Choice

What does the word catalyst mean in this sentence?

“Since my friend likes to get involved in drama, then she’s often the catalyst of many school fights.”

• winner

• cause

• protagonist

• spectator

Multiple Choice

What does the word abysmal mean in this sentence?

“My grades are abysmal so I won’t be able to go out tonight”

• horrible

• great

• mediocre

• average

Multiple Choice

What does refute mean in this sentence?

“Nathan refuted his mother’s accusation, but she still blamed him.”

• accuse

• blame

• deny

• approve

Multiple Choice

What does bolster mean in this sentence?

“When the crowds started to applaud him, it bolstered his confidence greatly.”

• undermine

• fix

• support

• breakdown

Multiple Choice

What does scandalous mean in this sentence?

“The magazine posted a scandalous picture of Lady Gaga, so she ended up suing them”

• ugly

• outrageous

• cute

• proper

Multiple Choice

What does diligence mean in this sentence?

“People were starting to question his diligence, so he started to work harder”

• brain

• laziness

• carelessness

• persistent effort

Multiple Choice

What does commission mean in this sentence?

“She made a commission to an artist to draw her portrait, so he started working on it immediately”  

• to order

• promise

• refuse

• to demand

Multiple Choice

What does the word substantiate mean in this sentence?

"In order to substantiate the truth of the murder, the detective spoke to the witnesses”

• question

• announce

• prove

• disprove

Multiple Choice

What does the word unprecedented mean in this sentence?

“Due to an unprecedented issue, we had to cancel gradbash for the first time ever."

• bizarre

• common

• great

• unknown

Multiple Choice

What does subsequently mean in this sentence?

"There was a workplace indecent; subsequently, new guidelines were added."

• during

• afterward

• sudden

• new