Dictionary and Thesaurus Skills — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. A dictionary shows "[Latin temperare, to mix]" after the word "temperature." What does this information tell you?
A) How to spell the word
B) The word's origin and original meaning
C) How many syllables the word has
D) Which definition to use
The bracket notation "[Latin temperare, to mix]" is an etymology that tells you "temperature" originally came from Latin and meant "to mix," revealing the word's history.
2. A thesaurus lists "thrilled," "pleased," "content," and "ecstatic" for "happy." Which word has the strongest meaning?
A) Pleased
B) Content
C) Ecstatic
D) Thrilled
"Ecstatic" means overwhelmingly happy, which is far stronger than "pleased" (mildly happy) or "content" (satisfied). It carries the most intense emotion of all four choices.
3. The guide words are "together" and "took." Which word would NOT be found on this page?
A) Tomato
B) Tongue
C) Topic
D) Tone
"Topic" starts with "top-" which comes alphabetically after "too-" (took), so it falls past the last guide word and would appear on a later page.
4. A student writes "The kitten devoured its milk." Why is "devoured" a poor synonym choice for "drank"?
A) Devoured is not a real word
B) Devoured means eating greedily, not drinking
C) Devoured and drank are antonyms
D) Devoured is only used for people
"Devoured" means to eat food greedily, not to drink a liquid, so using it for milk changes the meaning entirely and confuses the reader.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. The etymology section of a dictionary entry uses brackets to show a word's origin .
The brackets in an etymology section contain the word's origin, showing which language it came from and what it originally meant.
2. Choosing a synonym that is too strong or too weak can change the tone of your writing.
Tone is the feeling your writing gives the reader -- picking "furious" instead of "annoyed" makes the tone much more intense, which may not match what you intended.
3. The long vowel mark above a letter in a pronunciation key is called a macron .
A macron is the small horizontal line placed above a vowel (like the a in "cake") to show it makes a long vowel sound.
4. A homograph is a word that is spelled the same as another word but has a different meaning .
Homographs share the same spelling but have different meanings, like "bat" (an animal) and "bat" (a stick used in baseball).
5. After choosing a thesaurus synonym, you should reread the sentence to make sure it sounds natural .
Even if a synonym has the right meaning, it can sound awkward in your sentence, so rereading out loud helps you check that the word flows naturally.