Context Clues — Answer Key
Part A: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1. In "The petite girl was the shortest in her class," petite means small .
Being "the shortest in her class" is a context clue showing that petite describes someone who is small in size.
2. The teacher commended the student; in other words, she praised him.
The phrase "in other words" restates the meaning of commended, telling you it means praised.
3. In "The rapid current swept the leaves downstream," rapid means fast .
A current strong enough to sweep leaves downstream must be moving quickly, so rapid means fast.
4. An inference clue requires the reader to combine details from the sentence to guess a word's meaning.
With an inference clue there is no direct definition, so you must piece together details from the surrounding words to figure out what the unknown word means.
5. In "The ancient ruins were thousands of years old," ancient means very old .
The phrase "thousands of years old" gives a clear clue that ancient means extremely old.
6. The compassionate nurse comforted every patient because she was kind and caring .
Comforting every patient shows kindness, so the sentence's action clue reveals that compassionate means caring.
7. In "The frigid weather, however, turned warm by noon," the word "however" signals an antonym clue.
The word "however" signals a contrast between frigid and warm, making this an antonym clue because the two words have opposite meanings.
8. Beverages, such as water, juice, and milk, are liquids you can drink.
The examples "water, juice, and milk" are all liquids you drink, so the example clue tells you that beverages are liquids.
9. A synonym clue uses a word that means the same as the unknown word.
A synonym clue places a familiar word with the same meaning near the unknown word, so you can match their meanings together.
Part B: Matching
Match each item on the left to the correct answer on the right.
1. Match each item to its correct answer.
Courageous
→ Brave
Very hungry
Miniature
→ Very small
Calm and peaceful
Famished
→ Very hungry
Very small
Tranquil
→ Calm and peaceful
Brave
Correct matches: Courageous → Brave; Miniature → Very small; Famished → Very hungry; Tranquil → Calm and peaceful.