Context Clues

Context Clues

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Multiple Choice

What does pugnacious mean in the following sentence:

Walt’s pugnacious behavior in the boxing ring made his opponent back down.

• Nice

• Aggressive

• Cheerful

• Boring

Multiple Choice

Which words help the reader know what arbitrator means:

The arbitrator, the neutral person chosen to settle the dispute, arrived at her

decision.

• her decision

• arrived at

• neutral person chosen to settle dispute

• the arbitrator

Multiple Choice

Which words help the reader know what noxious means:

The river was full of noxious materials such as cleaning agents from factories and pesticides from the nearby farms.

• such as cleaning agents and pesticides

• factories and farms

• river was full

• full of noxious

Multiple Choice

What does the word immaculate mean?

Unlike Jamaal’s room, which was immaculate, Jeffrey’s room was very messy.

• small

• sorry

• large

• clean

Multiple Choice

Which word has the closest meaning to the underlined word?

The river was full of noxious materials such as cleaning agents from factories and pesticides from the nearby farms.

• tired

• dangerous

• loud

• scary

Multiple Choice

If you're faced with an unfamiliar word, see if there are any words restating the idea.

Ex: Jan's colleagues, the people who worked alongside her, thought Jan was a hard worker.

What does the word "colleague" most likely mean?

• friends

• enemies

• co-workers

Multiple Choice

Sometimes, a sentence will include an opposite word or phrase and that can clue you into a word's meaning.

Ex: The bustling city streets were a major change from the quiet countryside.

What does "bustling" most likely mean?

• quiet and calm

• noisy and busy

• friendly and exciting

Multiple Choice

The office, flooded with light and fresh plants, was an ideal environment for an outdoorsy person.

What does "ideal" most likely mean?

• perfect

• good

• awful

Multiple Choice

The scientists did experiments in their laboratory.

What does "laboratory" most likely mean?

• an office

• a place to perform experiments

• a classroom

Multiple Choice

The big room was separated into a bunch of cubicles, with walls separating each employee's desk.

Using the information in this sentence, which do you think is bigger - an office or a cubicle?

• office

• cubicle

Multiple Choice

The working conditions were horrendous, the factory was filthy and the managers were mean and abusive.

What do you think "conditions" most likely means?

• environment

• space

• factory

Multiple Choice

The upscale office building had crystal chandeliers and marble floors.

What does "upscale" most likely mean?

• tacky

• fancy

• pretty

Multiple Choice

Joe worked for a national corporation, with offices spread across the United States.

What does "national" most likely mean?

• in the city

• across the country

• across the world

Multiple Choice

Joe worked for a multinational corporation, with offices located across three continents.

What dose "multinational" most likely mean?

• in the city

• across the country

• across the world

Multiple Choice

Carla's restaurant made a great profit in the first year, earning thousands more than she had expected.

What does "profit" mean?

• the money a business makes

• the money a person makes

• the money a business owes