📚 Understanding Explanation Context Clues
Explanation context clues are like little hints the author gives you to understand a tricky word or idea. They explain the meaning directly in the sentence or nearby.
📝 How to Spot Explanation Clues
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👉 Look for Signal Words: Words like "because," "since," "is," "means," "that is," or "in other words" often introduce explanations.
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🔎 Find Definitions: The sentence might actually define the unknown word right then and there!
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💡 Notice Restatements: The author might say the same thing in a different, easier way.
🍎 Examples
Let's look at some examples:
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Example 1: "The archaeologist, that is, the scientist who studies ancient cultures, found many artifacts." Here, "that is" signals an explanation of what an archaeologist is.
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Example 2: "Photosynthesis is how plants make their food; it means using sunlight to create energy." "It means" tells you what photosynthesis is.
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Example 3: "The habitat, or the place where an animal lives, must have food and water." "Or" connects the word 'habitat' to its explanation.
✍️ Practice Quiz
Read each sentence and use the explanation context clues to figure out the meaning of the underlined word.
- The meteorologist, that is, the scientist who studies the weather, predicted rain.
What does meteorologist mean?
- My mom said to pulverize the dry herbs, or crush them into a powder.
What does pulverize mean?
- The toxic waste, which is poisonous, was locked away in special containers.
What does toxic mean?
- The artist used a stencil, a thin sheet of plastic or metal with a pattern cut out of it, to create the design.
What does stencil mean?
- The peregrine falcon, which is the fastest bird in the world, can dive at speeds of over 200 miles per hour.
What does peregrine falcon mean?
- The doctor said I had a contusion, or bruise, on my leg.
What does contusion mean?
- The zookeeper said the reptile, that is, the cold-blooded animal, needed sunlight to stay warm.
What does reptile mean?