Guessing Meaning from Context in Sentences

Vocabulary Knowledge

for Effective Reading

Guessing meaning from context in sentences

When you try to guess the meaning of an unknown word, you use the text

surrounding the word – the context. One sentence may be enough to give you

the meaning, or you may need to use a longer passage.

Example: Do you know what “misogynist” means? If not, try to make a guess:

A misogynist is ______

Now read these sentences. Try again to guess what misogynist means.

a. She realized that her boss was a misogynist soon after she started working

for him.

b. It is difficult for a woman to work for a misogynist. She is never sure of

the reasons for his criticism.

c. She knew that no woman would ever get a top-level job in a company owned

by a misogynist.

In addition to guessing the meaning of a word from its surrounding words,

you can also use other kinds of context clues as follows:

1. Definition

Difficult words or technical terms, words with specific meanings, are often clearly defined in the text. The clues are BE, MEAN, DEFINE, BE CALLED.

Examples:

An adonis is an extremely handsome young man.

To defuse a bomb means to prevent a bomb from exploding.

2. Explanation

Strings of words that follow an unknown word or expression sometimes restate

or explain what the antecedent word means. Signal clues are OR, IN OTHER WORDS,

THAT IS. Punctuation marks like COMMA ( , ), DASH ( ), and BRACKETS ( [……] )

can also help.

Examples:

He enjoys playing parcheesi a game from India.

The first chapter of this book concerns cytology (the science of cell structures).

3. Contrast

Sometimes connectives showing contrast indirectly help define an unknown words. Context clue words are BUT, HOWEVER, NEVERTHELESS, WHILE, ALTHOUGH,

EVEN THOUGH.

Examples:

The patient is usually morose, but she seems happy today.

Even though our camp was remote, I was afraid other people might find us.

4. Illustration

Examples and pictures given in the text usually suggest the meaning to

unfamiliar words. Example clues are FOR EXAMPLE, FOR INSTANCE, SUCH AS, LIKE.

Examples:

After serious flooding in the northeast of Thailand, fatal diseases such as

malaria, hepatitis and cholera, are often widespread, killing a large number of people.

There are several characteristics of a loquacious person. For instance, he or she

makes a points over and over, repeats phrases, never pauses, and usually doesn’t know

when to stop talking.

Exercise 1 Write the correct answers.

1. A pattern of stars visible to the naked eye in a small area of sky is called a constellation.

Clue : ......

A constellation is a ......

2. A bark is one kind of a ship having three or more masts.

Clue : ......

A bark means ......

3. An omen means a sign that foretells the future.

Clue : ......

An omen means ......

4. The earth's hydrosphere consists of the water on its surface, water vapor in

the air, and even water that has soaked into the soil.

Clue : ......

Hydrosphere is ......

5. The newsagent’s is the shop that sells newspapers and magazines.

Clue : ......

Newsagent’s means ......

6. An unreasonable and lasting fear of something is called a phobia.

Clue : ......

A phobia is ......

7. Circulate means to move around and return to the same place.

Clue : ......

Circulate is ......

8. A mammal is an animal that has a backbone and feeds its baby with milk from its

own body.

Clue : ......

Mammal is ......

9. A marsh is an area of low and wet land.

Clue : ......

A marsh is ......

10. Distillation is the process of changing a liquid into a gas by heating it, and then

condensing into a liquid again.

Clue : ......

Distillation is ......

Exercise 2 Write the correct answers.

1. The ocean's salinity, or salt content, varies from place to place.

Clue : ......

Salinity means ......

2. Very few plants will flourish, or grow very well, without water.

Clue : ......

Flourish means ......

3. Newspaper headlines often show the bias, or feeling, of the writer about the news story.

Clue : ......

Bias means ......

4. He is usually loquacious, but tonight he’s rather silent.

Clue : ......

Loquacious is ......

5. The newsagent’s is the shop that sells newspapers and magazines.

Clue : ......

Newsagent’s means ......

6. An unreasonable and lasting fear of something is called a phobia.

Clue : ......

A phobia is ......

7. Circulate means to move around and return to the same place.

Clue : ......

Circulate is ......

8. You can take an escalator, or a moving staircase to go down to the platform.

Punctuation clues : ......

Escalator is ......

9. The cobra moved sinuously, twisting and turning through the rocky field.

Punctuation clues : ......

Sinuously means ......

10. Manuel lives in an area that is arid or very dry.

Clue : ......

An arid place is a ......

Using grammar to guess word meaning

Another way context can help you guess meaning is by giving you information

about the grammar. When you find a word you do not know, look at the grammatical

structure of the sentence. It will tell you about the function of the word – as a noun, verb,

pronoun, adjective, or adverb, etc. Then you have a much narrower range of choices for

guessing the meaning.

In each of the following sentences, there is one word that you probably do not

know. Look at the grammatical structure of the sentence and decide whether the word

is a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb. Then guess the meaning.

Example :

The news that John was resigning from his job surprised us all. We simply couldn’t

fathom why he wanted to leave now that the company was finally doing so well.

What is the grammatical function of fathom in this sentence?

______

What does “fathom” mean? ______

Noun is………………………………………………………………………..…………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………………………......

The use of the noun

……………………………………………………………………………………………......

Noun suffixes

……………………………………………………………………………………………......

Verb is …………………………………………………………………………………………………..………

……………………………………………………………………………………………......

The use of the verb

……………………………………………………………………………………………......

Verb suffixes

……………………………………………………………………………………………......

Adjective is …………………………………………………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………………......

The use of the adjective

……………………………………………………………………………………………......

Adjective suffixes

……………………………………………………………………………………………......

Adverb is ………………………………………………………………………………………………….

……………………………………………………………………………………………......

The use of the adverb

……………………………………………………………………………………………......

Adverb suffixes

……………………………………………………………………………………………......

Exercise 1

In each of the following sentences, there is one word you probably do not

know. Look at the grammatical structure of the sentence and decide what the

grammatical function of the word is. Then try to guess the meaning.

1. Could I have a piece of bread? I missed breakfast and I’m simply ravenous.

The poor horse was ravenous and it ate the leaves and bark off the trees.

Grammatical function of ravenous : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

2. We were all surprised to see how fast Johnny was swimming. Then we saw that he was

wearing flippers.

With my flippers on my feet, I felt like a fish. I had never swum so fast and so far!

Grammatical function of flippers : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

3. George winked to me from across the room. It was a signal not to say anything

about what we had seen.

I’ve only known one cat that could wink and that was Tinker. She really could close

just one of her eyes and she did it often.

Grammatical function of wink : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

4. After so much rain, the river flowed over the dike and into the fields.

People in this area began building dikes many centuries ago. It was the only way to

keep the sea out of their villages.

Grammatical function of dike : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

5. She was wearing such gaudy clothes that it was easy to find her in the crowd.

My mother always said that old ladies shouldn’t wear bright colors. She thought that

they would look gaudy and foolish.

Grammatical function of gaudy : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

6. The liquid plastic was poured into a mold and left there until it was hard.

The dentist first makes a mold of his patient’s teeth. From that he makes a model of

the teeth to decide how to correct any problems.

Grammatical function of mold : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

7. When I stooped down to get a better look, I realized that it was a dead rabbit.

It must have been hit by a car.

The old man walked slowly along, all stooped over and leaning on a stick.

Grammatical function of stooped : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

8. The squall arrived so suddenly that we all got wet when we ran home from the beach.

When they saw the squall coming, the sailors took down the sail and headed for the

port.

Grammatical function of squall : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

9. When the fountain was turned on, the water gushed up several feet into the air.

The blood gushed out of his wound until the doctor put on a tight bandage.

Grammatical function of gushed : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

10. We gather up the soggy towels and bathing suits and hung them all in the sun to dry.

The study window had been left open during the storm, and my papers were a soggy

mess.

Grammatical function of soggy : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

11. The only person in the room was a doddering old man who didn’t seem to understand

our question.

Grammatical function of doddering : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

12. “What’s all that ruckus?” Dad called to us. “If you can’t be quiet you’ll all go to bed

with no supper.”

Grammatical function of ruckus : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

13. His breath reeked of whiskey, and from the way he walked, we guessed he had been

drinking for some time.

Grammatical function of reeked : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

14. “What a slipshod job this is!” Mr. Jenkins shouted. “Go back and do it again more

carefully.”

Grammatical function of slipshod : ______

Approximate meaning : ______

15. We’ll have to buckle down if we want to get this finished by the end of the month.

Grammatical function of buckle down : ______

Approximate meaning : ______