Vocabulary in context

English Language · Reading: understanding a text. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

Many English words have more than one meaning. A vocabulary question asks what the word means here, in this sentence, not what it means most often.

Use the context: the words and sentences around it. They usually give a clue such as an example, a contrast or a result. Then try each option in place of the word. This is the substitution test. The right option keeps the meaning of the sentence exactly.

Phrases need the same care. An idiom does not mean what its separate words say, so read it as a whole and ask what the writer is really telling you.

Rules to remember

Context = the words and sentences around the word.
Substitution test: put each option in place of the word. The sentence must keep the same meaning.
The answer is the same part of speech: an adverb replaces an adverb, a verb replaces a verb.
Common words change meaning: a ‘sharp’ knife cuts well, but a ‘sharp’ rise is a sudden one.
Idioms are not literal: ‘a drop in the ocean’ means an amount too small to matter.
Match strength as well as meaning: ‘annoyed’ is weaker than ‘furious’.
Some words carry a feeling: ‘loomed’ suggests something large and threatening.

Common mistake

Choosing the meaning you know best without checking the sentence. Always put your choice back into the passage and read the sentence through.

Worked example

‘After months without rain, the stream had become a faint trickle, and the villagers drew water sparingly.’ Which is closest in meaning to ‘sparingly’: quickly, happily, in small amounts or secretly?

Clue: the stream is only ‘a faint trickle’, so there is very little water.
People with very little water would take only a little at a time.
Substitute: ‘the villagers drew water in small amounts’ keeps the meaning. Nothing in the sentence suggests speed, happiness or secrecy.

Answer: ‘Sparingly’ means in small amounts.

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