Vocabulary Strategies · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Vocabulary Strategies

English · Vocabulary · ages 11-14
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Which strategy uses word parts like mal- (bad) and volent (wishing) to work out a meaning?

    • Reading the whole passage backward
    • Splitting a word into roots and affixes
    • Sounding the word out one letter at a time

  2. What are context clues?

    • Nearby words that hint at a hard word's meaning
    • A list of every meaning a word has ever had in history
    • The page number where a word appears in the dictionary

  3. After guessing a word's meaning from context, it's a good idea to check a dictionary to confirm you're right.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. The word benevolent breaks into bene- (good) and volent (wishing). What does benevolent mean?

    bene- means goodvolent means wishingwishing good things
    • Wishing others well
    • Wishing bad things on someone
    • Refusing to wish anyone well

  5. 'The gymnast's movements were so lithe that she seemed to bend like rubber.' What does lithe most likely mean?

    • Slow and stiff like the old bridge
    • Loud and clumsy on the landing
    • Flexible and graceful

  6. Priya guesses that gregarious means 'friendly' after reading it in a sentence. What should she do next to make sure she's right?

    • Stop thinking about the word
    • Look up gregarious in a dictionary
    • Replace the word with a synonym she already knows

  7. Circumnavigate contains circum- (around) and navigate (to travel by a route). What does circumnavigate mean?

    • To travel all the way around something
    • To refuse to travel anywhere
    • To cut straight across from one side to the other

  8. Ravi reads 'The detective's inference was correct.' He guesses inference means 'a loud noise' because it sounds like 'interference.' What went wrong?

    • He split inference into word parts and built the meaning
    • He read the dictionary entry but picked the wrong meaning
    • He guessed from sound, not from clues or a dictionary
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Vocabulary Strategies W1-mt_WZnwITSWr8-s1

  1. Splitting a word into roots and affixes · Many English words are built from Greek and Latin pieces. Knowing common roots and affixes helps you decode new words.
  2. Nearby words that hint at a hard word's meaning · Context clues are the hints hidden in the sentence or paragraph around a word you don't know.
  3. True · A guess is a starting point. A dictionary check tells you whether your guess was accurate.
  4. Wishing others well · Bene- means good and volent means wishing, so put together they mean wishing someone well.
  5. Flexible and graceful · The clue 'bend like rubber' points to something flexible, so lithe means bending and moving easily.
  6. Look up gregarious in a dictionary · Checking a dictionary confirms whether her context-clue guess matches the real definition.
  7. To travel all the way around something · Circum- means around, so circumnavigate means to travel a full route around something, like a ship circling the globe.
  8. He guessed from sound, not from clues or a dictionary · A word that sounds similar to another word can lead to a wrong guess. Context clues and a dictionary check catch that mistake.
Worksheet · LightMySky