Tag Archives: context clues

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb winnow. It’s used both intransitively and transitively. As I started writing this, I was surprised to learn the complicated set of definitions this word carries.

For this worksheet, I’ve limited the context to elicit the definition shown in the Merriam-Webster widget on my iPad, to wit “to sort or separate something.” This is the meaning of winnow in the vernacular, so I hope it serves students well.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun scuttlebutt. The context provides support for inferring the simplest vernacular meaning of this word, i.e. “rumor” and “gossip.” (But did you know it also means “a cask on shipboard to contain freshwater for a day’s use” and “a drinking fountain on a ship or at a naval or marine installation”? I didn’t.)

This is too slangy a noun, I submit, for use in academic prose–though it would make for some snappy dialogue in, say, something along the lines of a Damon Runyon story. I’m not sure how I ended up with this other than it must of been the Word of the Day on Merriam-Webster at some point.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

It’s Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day today, so here is a context clues worksheet on the verb tousle. It means “dishevel” and “rumple.” It’s only used transitively, so don’t forget your direct object. You, or someone or something else, must tousle something.

This is one of those words that yields a pair of definitional words that students, particularly English language learners, may not know. Since I just wrote this document this morning, I haven’t used it in a classroom (and may never, since this isn’t a high-frequency or essential academic word). But if I did, I would look for students to be able to articulate from context–which is relatively strong in this worksheet–a general sense of “wrinkle,” or “mess up,” or “tangle,” or something along those lines.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

It’s Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day today, so here is a context clues worksheet on the adjective callow. It means “lacking adult sophistication” and “immature.” For some reason, this is a word I’ve always liked to use–it seems to me to have an onomatopoeic quality. I think the context is strong, so students will probably infer quickly the meaning of this adjective.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb portend. It means “to give an omen or anticipatory sign of.” This verb is used only transitively, so don’t forget your direct object: something must portend something else, e.g. “Thunder and lightning portend rain.”

This comes to English from Latin, which is no surprise. The Romans had great faith in portents, and heeded them willingly. In fact, Roman priests sought auguries in the flights of birds. But that’s the subject of another post.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Here is a context clues worksheet on the verb perform and another on the noun performance. The verb is used both intransitively and transitively and means, respectively (and similarly), “to do in a formal manner or according to prescribed ritual” and “to give a performance.” The verb has other meanings, but these are the two–the worksheet shows both transitive and intransitive use–meanings which the context clues seek to elicit from students.

Performance means, as its worksheet attempts by context to define, both “a public presentation or exhibition” and “the manner in which a mechanism performs.” Performance is actually a relatively complicated polysemous word, but I’ve attempted in these context clues to hew to a the two definitions above.

If you find typos in these documents, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.