TYPE OF CONTEXT CLUES

THERE ARE 5 TYPES OF CONTEXT CLUES:  Definition  Synonym  Antonym  Inference  Punctuation

DEFINITION CLUE  What does this mean?  Sometimes a word’s meaning is explained immediately after its use. Example: Haberdashery, which is a store that sells men’s clothing, is becoming more popular today.

SYNONYM CLUE  What does this mean?  Sometimes, the sentence might use a word that means the same thing as the unfamiliar word.  Example- The slender woman was so thin, her clothes were too big on her.

ANTONYM CLUE  What does this mean?  Sometimes, the sentence will use words that have the opposite meaning of the unfamiliar word.  Example: Unlike Cory’s room, which was immaculate, N’Vaughn’s room was extremely messy.

INFERENCE CLUE  What does this mean?  Word meanings are not directly stated in the sentence, but need to be inferred.  Example: Angel’s pugnacious behavior made her opponent back down.

PUNCTUATION CLUE  What does this mean?  You can use punctuation such as dashes, quotation marks, parentheses or brackets to show a word’s definition.  Example: In the story, Voldemort’s father was a haberdasher- or men’s shop keeper.

CONTEXT CLUES ACTIVITY  You are going to be assigned 1 of the types of context clues.  Step 1- Create your own word and come up with a definition.  Example- My made up word is poodlepuff.  Definition- an exotic flower Step 2-Use your word in a sentence with the type of context clue I assigned you. Example- The poodlepuff, an exotic flower, smells like peaches. What type of context clue did I use???