Determining Meaning Using Context Clues

Some words in English have more than one meaning. The word "bark" can mean the sound a dog makes or the outer covering of a tree. The word "bank" can mean a place that holds money or the land beside a river. When you read a word like this, you cannot just guess its meaning from the word alone. You need to look at the sentences around it, and sometimes the whole paragraph, to figure out which meaning the writer intends. This lesson builds on the general context clue strategies from finding word meaning with context and focuses on the extra thinking multiple-meaning words require.

A multiple-meaning word is a single word spelled the same way but carrying two or more different definitions. Words like "light," "fair," "run," and "spring" all fall into this category. If you only read the word by itself, you cannot know which meaning applies. You have to read the sentence it sits in, and often the sentences before and after it, to see which meaning makes sense with everything else the writer is saying.

This is different from simply meeting a brand new word you have never seen before. With a multiple-meaning word, your brain already has one or two definitions stored. Context clues do not teach you a new meaning from nothing; they help you choose the correct meaning from the ones you already know, or rule out the wrong one.

Start with the sentence that contains the unfamiliar or tricky word. Look for clue words nearby that hint at the topic. For example: "The old oak's bark was rough and covered in moss." The words "rough," "covered," and "moss" all describe something physical on a tree, so "bark" clearly means the tree covering here, not a dog sound.

Sometimes one sentence is not enough. You may need to read the whole paragraph to find the subject the writer is discussing. Consider this pair of sentences: "The hikers stopped near the water. They noticed the bank was steep and muddy." Nothing in the first sentence proves the meaning, but once you add it to the second sentence, the setting near water tells you "bank" means the land next to a river, not a place that holds money.

Follow these steps whenever you meet a word that could have more than one meaning:

1. Notice that the word might have several definitions. 2. Reread the sentence and underline any words that describe people, places, actions, or feelings connected to it. 3. If the sentence alone is not clear, read the sentence before and after it. 4. Ask what the paragraph is mostly about, since the topic often points to the correct meaning. 5. Try substituting each possible meaning into the sentence and see which one keeps the sentence logical.

This process works alongside the clue types you already recognize. A definition clue might state the meaning directly. An example clue might show the word in action. A synonym clue offers a word with a similar meaning nearby, and an antonym clue offers a contrasting idea. With multiple-meaning words, these same clue types help you decide between the definitions you already know, rather than teaching you a brand new one.

Multiple-Meaning Word: A word with two or more different definitions, where the correct meaning depends on context.

Context Clues: Words, phrases, and sentences surrounding an unfamiliar or tricky word that help reveal its intended meaning.

Paragraph Context: The overall topic or subject of a paragraph, which can point toward the correct meaning of a word when a single sentence is not enough.

Definition Clue: A clue that directly explains or restates a word's meaning nearby in the text.

Synonym Clue: A nearby word or phrase with a similar meaning that helps confirm the intended definition.

Antonym Clue: A nearby word or phrase with an opposite meaning that helps rule out an incorrect definition.

Try this with common multiple-meaning words: "fair" (a carnival or something just), "run" (to jog or to operate a business), "light" (not heavy or full of brightness), and "spring" (a season or a coil). For each word, write two sentences that use different meanings, then underline the context clues in each sentence that reveal which meaning is intended.

These same skills apply directly to test situations, where passages often include a multiple-meaning word on purpose to check whether you can use context correctly. You can practice this kind of close reading with vocabulary in context for test prep.

Related lessons

• Finding Word Meaning with Context