Context Clue/Word Meanings
Determine the meaning of the word of the italicized word based on the context clues in the sentence.
Kevin thought that it was a great injustice that the referee made a bad call in the soccer game that made them lose.
answers may vary/
something that is not fair
unfairness
Lucy would never get her room clean. It looked like a tornado had hit it. She couldn’t believe how much damage her friends had done. They pull everything out and didn’t put anything back. Glue was spilled all over her rug, and fingernail polish was spilled on her new bedspread. They had even wiped their chocolate covered fingers on her curtains. Wow! What a mess.
Lucy’s friends made her room a mess.
Screech! When a driver pushes on the brake pedal, it starts a process that causes the vehicle to stop. You literally trust braking systems with your life every time you get into a vehicle or cross a busy intersection, but how does this process work? It begins when the pedal is pushed. At this moment brake fluid is released into the area where the braking mechanisms are located. As the fluid collects, leverage is created, which causes a friction to be applied. If the braking system is functioning properly, this friction will create a force that will cause the wheels to stop and allow you to reach your destination safely.
When you step on the brakes, fluid is stored in a chamber that allows the car to stop.
Tammy and Sammy were both students in Mr. Morton’s reading class. Mr. Morton wasn’t too strict about deadlines, and Sammy took advantage of that. He did all of his homework in his other classes but never bothered to complete Mr. Morton’s reading assignments, figuring that he could complete them later. Tammy, on the other hand, completed each assignment Mr. Morton assigned the night that he assigned it. She had to stay up a little later, but she didn’t want to get a penalty for turning in her reading work late. Tammy knew reading was a core subject and that she had to keep “C” average for the entire year or she would have to go to summer school. When the end of the quarter came, Tammy and Sammy had both planned on going to the Enchanted Castle amusement park, but Mr. Morton called Sammy’s mother, and she grounded Sammy until he turned in all of his work. That weekend was horrible for Sammy. He stayed up until 2:00 AM each night and still couldn’t complete all of the assignments. The whole while, Tammy had a great time eating pizza at Enchanted Castle, watching movies late at night, and enjoying her weekend free of stress and pressure. At the end of the quarter, Sammy was lucky to squeak by with a “C” minus in reading while Tammy earned an “A.” Sammy still hasn’t learned his lesson and probably won’t complete this activity either.
Theme: It's better to do things right the first time; work hard, play hard
Grant never wants to share his things. When his friends come over, he will only let them play with the toys that he does not want to play with. He does not ever give his friends a chance to use his things or share any of his snacks or treats. If someone tries to share his things, he throws a fit and takes all of his things and goes home.
How would you describe Grant?
selfish; stingy; greedy; unfair
Determine the meaning of the word of the italicized word based on the context clues in the sentence.
Since professional athletes have to stay in top, physical shape, most athletes seldom eat junk food.
answers may vary
rarely
hardly
not often
The fastest thing in France may just be the fastest ground transportation in the world. The TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse: French for very high speed) is France's national high speed rail service. On April 3rd, 2007, a TGV test rain set a record for the fastest wheeled train, reaching 357.2 miles per hour. In mid 2011, TGV trains operated at the highest speed in passenger train service in the world, regularly reaching 200 miles per hour. But what you may find most shocking is that TGV trains run on electric power not petrol.
The TGV is the fastest ground transportation in the world.
Yellowstone National Park is mainly located in Wyoming, although three percent is located in the state of Montana. The park sits on the Yellowstone Plateau, which is an average elevation of 8,000 feet above sea level. This plateau is bounded on nearly all sides by mountain ranges. There are 290 waterfalls that are at least fifteen feet in the park, the highest being the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, which falls 308 feet.
Yellowstone Park, in Wyoming, is on a large plateau and has many waterfalls.
Mr. Pig and Mr. Dog were hanging out at the food court of the animal shopping mall. Mr. Pig was eating a huge feast of pizza and drinking a large jug of fruit punch and Mr. Dog was watching him eat. “Hey, Mr. Pig. If you give me a slice of your pizza, I’ll let you have the next bone I find.” Mr. Pig declined, even though it hurt his stomach to eat the last three slices of pizza. “I’m sorry, Mr. Dog,” Mr. Pig said, “but I paid for this pizza and it’s all mine.” Mr. Dog sighed and waited for Mr. Pig to finish, and then they left the animal mall together. On the way out, a hunter spotted them and gave chase. Mr. Pig normally could have escaped the hunter but since he was weighed down by such a large meal, Mr. Pig collapsed and the hunter killed him. Mr. Dog easily escaped. Later that night while returning to the scene, Mr. Dog caught the scent of something delicious and began digging around a trash can. He found a large ham bone with lots of meat and marrow still stuck to the bone. Mr. Dog happily ate.
Theme: It is better to share. Don't be greedy.
Mary had been trying to solve the same math problem for an hour. She kept writing and rewriting the problem over and over again. When she kept getting the wrong answer, she put her hands on her head, leaned back in her chair and said, “I quit!!!! I will never get it right!!!” Then she tore up the paper and threw it away.
Mary felt ___________ trying to solve the problem.
frustrated; aggravated; upset
Determine the meaning of the word of the italicized word based on the context clues in the sentence.
John enjoyed the slice of cake so much that he yearned for more.
answers may vary
wanted
desired
craved
Picture this: a herd of elephants flies past you at sixty miles per hour, followed by a streak of tigers, a pride of lions, and a bunch of clowns. What do you see? It must be a circus train! One of the first uses of the circus train is credited to W.C. Coup. He partnered with P.T. Barnum in 1871 to expand the reach of their newly combined shows using locomotives. Before circus trains, these operators had to lug around all of their animals, performers, and equipment with a team of more than 600 horses. Since there were no highways, these voyages were rough and took a long time. Circuses would stop at many small towns between the large venues. Performing at many of these small towns was not very profitable. Because of these limitations, circuses could not grow as large as the imaginations of the operators. After they began using circus trains, Barnum and Coup only brought their show to large cities. These performances were much more profitable and the profits went toward creating an even bigger and better circus. Multiple rings were added and the show went on. Today, Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus still rely on the circus train to transport their astounding show, but now they use two.
Circus trains allowed circuses to travel easily from large city to large city.
The image of the ninja wearing all black is a popular one indeed, but there is really no evidence that ninjas ever wore such a costume. In fact, it is much more likely that ninjas dressed as regular civilians, which would have been far more effective camouflage in most situations than an all black suit. The use of disguises amongst ninja is common and well-documented. Ninja often dressed as monks, entertainers, fortune-tellers, merchants, or farmers. Each of these disguises carried advantages that dressing in all black did not. Dressed as monks, ninjas could conceal weapons in their robes. Dressed as entertainers, they could spy in enemy buildings without arousing suspicion. Dressed as fortune-tellers, they could extract information from unknowing targets. Dressed as merchants, they could travel freely across enemy borders. And while dressed as farmers, ninja carried simple gardening tools (such as sickles or trowels) and used them as deadly weaponry. In this way if a ninja were caught by authorities, he could claim that his deadly apparatus were tools, not weapons. Though they may not have been wearing all black stealth suits, ninjas were always well-disguised.
Ninjas most likely wore disguises, rather than black suits, because it was more effective.
Money Mark was born rich. He never had to work a day in his life and he got everything handed to him on a silver platter. When he was six, Money Mark wanted to go to a basketball game. His father paid the starting five of the Bulls and Celtics to play a private game of Nerf-ball in Money Mark’s bedroom. When Money Mark turned thirteen, he wanted to start a band. His father hired the Rolling Stones to play with him every Saturday at the family’s private concert hall, though his family was never there. By the time he was twenty-one, Money Mark was bored with life. He was surrounded by a bunch of possessions that he didn’t appreciate and Money Mark could find nothing new or exciting in his life. Despite his vast wealth, Money Mark never found happiness. Penny Petal was born poor. Her family hardly had anything to eat, but they loved each other. Penny Petal appreciated every thing she got. When she was six, her father walked her around the United Center before the Bulls played the Celtics. She was excited by the crazy fans and feeling in the air. She looked forward to the day that she could see a real game. When she was thirteen, she learned to play the buckets. She was an extremely talented musician, a natural percussionist, and everyone on the block loved the rhythms that poured from her palms. By the time she was twenty-one, Penny was a successful businesswoman. Now she had everything that she had ever dreamed of and she truly loved to share her wealth and happiness with her family who supported her through all of the hard times.
Theme: Money doesn't buy happiness. You don't appreciate the things you don't work hard for.
Kammy packed her own bag and put her pajamas, toothbrush, and favorite teddy bear in the bag. It was her first sleepover. She had never spent the night away from her home or family before. Kammy was not sure about what the night would be like at Christy’s house. She wanted to go, but she did not want her mother to leave.
Spending the night at her friend’s house made Kammy __________.
nervous; anxious
Determine the meaning of the word of the italicized word based on the context clues in the sentence.
The ballerina danced elegantly across the stage, like a butterfly fluttering across the sky.
answers may vary
gracefully
lovely
smoothly
fluidly
Giddy-up, cowboys and girls! In the Southwest during early half of the 1800s, cows were only worth 2 or 3 dollars a piece. They roamed wild, grazed off of the open range, and were abundant. Midway through the century though, railroads were built and the nation was connected. People could suddenly ship cows in freight trains to the Northeast, where the Yankees had a growing taste for beef. Out of the blue, the same cows that were once worth a couple of bucks were now worth between twenty and forty dollars each, if you could get them to the train station.
Cows became more expensive after the invention of the train.
Invisibility, flight, the power to split into multiple bodies… these superhuman abilities have long been associated with ninjas, but ninjas didn’t really do all of that stuff. They were just regular people with exceptional abilities. So why do people think that ninjas had super powers? Well, one reason is that ninjas were very secretive and left behind few historical records of their activities. Since we do not know much about what they actually did, we are left to wonder. Another reason why people often think that ninjas had superhuman abilities is because of how ninjas are depicted in folklore (particularly during the Edo period in Japan). In such legends and works of art, ninjas were mysticized and romanticized. These romantic notions of ninjas as superhero are shown in media today, but maybe that’s just because these days people expect ninjas to have supernatural abilities. Ki-yah!
Today, people believe in the misconception that ninjas have superhuman abilities because of the way the media/television/movies portray them.
Kyle liked Lucy more than any other girl in the school, but he had an odd way of showing it. When she walked ahead of him in line, he kicked at her shoe. When she passed him on the school yard, he called her “lame Lucy.” He even wrote a mean word on her homework during the bus ride to school. But what puzzled Lucy the most was receiving an invitation to Kyle’s birthday party. Figuring that he was just planning a mean trick on her, Lucy decided not to go, and while Kyle eagerly awaited Lucy’s arrival, Lucy talked on the phone to Jacob. When Kyle finally realized that Lucy was not coming to his party, he was crushed.
Theme: Have a backup plan; don't put all your eggs in one basket
Daisey worked hard at every practice she went to. She kicked the soccer ball in her front yard for about an hour each day. When her coach told her she needed to fix things, she listened carefully and did what he said. It did not matter if it was cold or hot, or rainy or sunny. Daisey was always ready to go play soccer, no matter what the weather.
Daisey was a very _____________ soccer player.
dedicated; persistent; committed; hardworking
Determine the meaning of the word of the italicized word based on the context clues in the sentence.
Even though we lost the competition, we maintained our dignity, holding our heads up high.
answers may vary
honor
pride
Electric trolley cars or trams were once the chief mode of public transportation in the United States. Though they required tracks and electric cables to run, these trolley cars were clean and comfortable. In 1922, auto manufacturer General Motors created a special unit to replace electric trolleys with cars, trucks, and buses. Over the next decade, this group successfully lobbied for laws and regulations that made operating trams more difficult and less profitable. Some people suspect that these parties wanted to replace trolley cars with buses to make public transportation less desirable, which would then increase automobile sales. The decline of the tram system in North America could be attributed to many things, but perhaps the primary cause was having a group of powerful men from rival sectors of the auto industry working together to ensure its destruction.
The invention of cars, buses, and trucks hurt/declined the electric trolley cars (trams) industry.
Bullying means to be mean to another kid again and again. Bullying can take many forms. It can be teasing, threatening to hurt someone, telling lies about someone, not including others in order to make them feel bad, or it can be actually yelling at or hitting someone. Bullying can also take place over through text messages or emails, or by posting rumors on sites like Facebook, passing around embarrassing pictures or videos.
Bullying can take on many forms, whether it's verbally, physically, or emotionally.
Bullying can take on many forms, whether it's face to face or over the internet.
Even though they were sisters, Suzie and June were nothing alike. If Suzie wanted to jump rope, June wanted to play hopscotch. If June wanted to watch soap operas, Suzie wanted to watch talk shows. Tensions rose to the point that the girls could no longer stand one another’s company. It seemed that they had nothing in common, until the day that progress reports came out. While riding the bus home from school, the girls—startled by how upset the other looked—realized that they were both failing a subject. Suzie was failing math and June was failing reading. Since both girls wanted to pass their classes, they got to talking and agreed to help one another. So everyday after school for the next few weeks, Suzie tutored June in reading and then June tutored Suzie in math. By the time report cards came were distributed, Suzie and June were passing all of their classes. The girls were delighted, but their mother was happiest of all. Not just because her daughters passed their classes, but because they had learned to be good sisters.
Theme: It's better to work together; you can learn something from working with someone else; two heads is better than one
As soon as Christiana got home, she would always put her backpack away and get started on her homework quickly. She knew that she only had an hour to do her work, so she did not waste any time. She did not turn the television or the radio on because she knew it would distract her from her work. She did not stop until she was done with everything.
Christiana is a very _____________ student.
focused; determined; disciplined