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Using Context

When you come across a word you don’t know, you can often figure out its meaning from the other words in the sentence or sentences around it. The other words form a familiar context or setting, for the unfamiliar word. Looking closely at these surrounding words will give you hints, or clues, about the meaning of the new word. Seven common types of context clues are listed below with examples. (Unfamiliar words are shown in red, context cues in blue.)

You can get additional practice with context clues by downloading this activity.