Context Clues
Be the detective
What are they?
Context clues are some bits of information that you can find in the text with your own knowledge to help you figure out what the meaning of a certain word is.
How do they help?
Textbook writers and authors include words or phrases to help their readers understand the meaning of a new or difficult word.
These words or phrases are built into the sentences around the new or difficult word.By becoming more aware of the words around a difficult word, readers can make logical guesses about the meanings of many words.
Hunt the meanings down
Types of context clues
Authors use many different types of context clues when writing texts.Three of these types are:
Direct definition context clues
Synonym context clues
Antonym context clues