Sentence Level Context Clues Worksheets

Related ELA Standard: L.2.4.A

Core Standard
Answer Keys Here

When you are reading a sentence, you will often come across a word you haven’t seen before or you don’t know the meaning of. To get a solid understanding of the word you can use the words and concepts that surround it. The first thing to do is to circle or underline the unknown word. Then look at the neighboring words and see if you can get an idea of what the meaning of the word is. The worksheets below will put you through a series of steps that help you identify words within sentences by using the surrounding context.

Sentence Based Context Clues Worksheets:

Opening Night – Using the paragraph about Giselle starring role to understand new words.

Lily's Picnic – Lily throws one heck of a picnic, rain or shine.

The Eagle and the Fox – There will be many unfamiliar words. Use the passage to better understand them.

Cool Summer Treats – Summer is all about being and staying cool!

Using Context Clues – You can understand tough words when they are in sentence form.

Carl Lewis – Carl Lewis is one of the world's greatest athletes. The world records he set in both running and the long jump have made him famous.

Multiple Meanings – Sometimes the same word can have two different meanings. Two meanings are provided for each word.

Context Detective – Color in the magnifying glass that contains the word that means almost the same as the underlined word.

Context Clues Bus – Write the word that means almost the same as each bold word. Use the word bank.

Jesse Owens – Use the context of the word, and information provided in the article to figure out the meaning of the underlined words. Write the meanings on the lines below.

Words in Context – Using the clues in bold in the first sentence, choose the word that means almost the same as the underlined word in the second sentence.

LOST AT SEA – Captain Rogers was lost at sea. He put a message in a bottle and cast it out into the ocean.

The Perfect Puppy – Jimmy's father had finally assented. After a year of asking, Jimmy was getting a dog!

Meet the Horses! – Find the meaning of each underlined word. Write the letter on the line in front of the sentence.

A Valuable Lesson – Many of people liked Rachel. She was amiable and kind.

How to Find Context Clues?


Whenever you are reading a new book or text, you do stumble on a word that seems unfamiliar to you. There are so many words in the English language. All of them cannot be memorized. Hence, there should be other ways to find the meanings of different words. You do not always have the source to look up the meaning of that word. Hence, a great way to deal with such a situation is to use context clues. Context clues, as the name implies, are the hints from the text itself that leads toward the meaning of that unfamiliar word. It might seem difficult or impossible at first, but using context clues to find out the meaning of a word is one of the most helpful ways. It is also often correct. There are very few chances of error if you decode the clues smartly. Here are some tips that will help you find the context clues from the text.


Definition


Sometimes, the meaning of the difficult and unfamiliar word is defined in the sentence itself. Look clearly at the sentence and try to identify the meaning of the unfamiliar word. Look if there is any phrase right after the word that further explains that word. That phrase is definitely the explanation for that word. You can guess the meaning of the unfamiliar word by using that phrase.


Synonyms


If you come across a sentence that has an unfamiliar word in it, but another word is mentioned right after it. Usually, the other word is the synonym of the first word. If you know the meaning of the other word, you can easily guess the meaning of the first word as well.


Antonyms


There are also antonyms mentioned in the same sentence. Look for words like contrary to, or in contrast to. These words are an indication of the presence of an antonym. If you know the meaning of the antonym, you can guess the meaning of the unfamiliar word.


How to Find Context Clues in Text?


Passages and comprehensions often contain certain difficult words that you might not know the meaning of. By looking for content clues, you can easily guess the meaning of those words. Here are a few strategies that you can use to find content clues in the text.


Break down the word


So, you came across a word that is so hard to decipher. It is long and difficult to pronounce. No worries. Break the word down into three parts. Figure out the root word in it. Root words are usually short and simple. They can be easily understood. For example, in the word independence, depend is the root word.


After you have separated the root word, now it is time to take out the suffixes and prefixes. Usually, words only have one of those. But in the example, independence, it is the prefix and hence is the suffix. Write all three words separately and combine the meanings of each. You will get the actual meaning of the word.


Look for an explanation


Usually, the sentence itself will have some sort of clue for the meaning. It will explain the scenario that will help you guess the meaning of the word.


Synonyms


In a sentence, if there are two words being used separated by the preposition "and" then it means that both words are synonyms of each other. The words unknown to you have the same meaning as the one preceding it. You can use this trick to find out the meaning of that word.


For example,
The red carpet was full of beauty and glamour.


Contrast


Contrasting words can help you determine the meaning of the word. These words include, contrary to, in contrast to, unlike, as opposed to, etc.


For example,
Selfless people, unlike the narcissists, show compassion for everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



The Eagle and the Fox Preview