Read the sentences and determine the meaning of the underlined word using context clues or your prior knowledge.

The man was despondent and sobbing as he packed up his grandfather’s belongings into cardboard boxes. He couldn’t believe he would never see such an important person in his life again. The pain was unbearable.

What does the word despondent mean in the context of this sentence?

Read the sentences and determine the meaning of the underlined word using context clues or your prior knowledge.

My excitement for the business deal slowly began to abate when I heard the terms of the agreement. I would have to give up a lot of equity and wouldn’t get much in return.

What does the word abate mean in the context of these sentences?

Read the following sentence and determine the meaning of the underlined word using context clues or your prior knowledge.

The emblem on his team jacket was proudly displayed across the entirety of his back as he marched with his school’s band in the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

What does the word emblem mean in the sentence above?

Read the sentences below and determine the synonym of the underlined word using context clues or your prior knowledge.

I gave my friend the most incredulous stare as he told me his story. He claimed to have been camping the weekend prior and stumbled across large footprints. He thought he saw none other than...Bigfoot. I was in awe that he not only believed this story, but that he expected me to as well.

Read the following sentences and determine the meaning of the underlined word using context clues or your prior knowledge.

My uncle is a peevish sort of man. It only takes the slightest annoyance or misstep to upset him.

What does the word peevish mean?

Adapted from Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (1871)

One thing was certain, that the white kitten had had nothing to do with it—it was the black kitten's fault entirely. For the white kitten had been having its face washed by the old cat for the last quarter of an hour (and bearing it pretty well, considering); so you see that it COULDN'T have had any hand in the mischief.

The way Dinah washed her children's faces was this: first she held the poor thing down by its ear with one paw, and then with the other paw she rubbed its face all over, the wrong way, beginning at the nose: and just now, as I said, she was hard at work on the white kitten, which was lying quite still and trying to purr—no doubt feeling that it was all meant for its good.

But the black kitten had been finished with earlier in the afternoon, and so, while Alice was sitting curled up in a corner of the great arm-chair, half talking to herself and half asleep, the kitten had been having a grand game of romps with the ball of worsted Alice had been trying to wind up, and had been rolling it up and down till it had all come undone again; and there it was, spread over the hearth-rug, all knots and tangles, with the kitten running after its own tail in the middle.

'Oh, you wicked little thing!' cried Alice, catching up the kitten, and giving it a little kiss to make it understand that it was in disgrace. 'Really, Dinah ought to have taught you better manners! You OUGHT, Dinah, you know you ought!' she added, looking reproachfully at the old cat, and speaking in as cross a voice as she could manage—and then she scrambled back into the arm-chair, taking the kitten and the worsted with her, and began winding up the ball again. But she didn't get on very fast, as she was talking all the time, sometimes to the kitten, and sometimes to herself. Kitty sat very demurely on her knee, pretending to watch the progress of the winding, and now and then putting out one paw and gently touching the ball, as if it would be glad to help, if it might.

'Do you know what to-morrow is, Kitty?' Alice began. 'You'd have guessed if you'd been up in the window with me—only Dinah was making you tidy, so you couldn't. I was watching the boys getting in sticks for the bonfire—and it wants plenty of sticks, Kitty! Only it got so cold, and it snowed so, they had to leave off. Never mind, Kitty, we'll go and see the bonfire to-morrow.' Here Alice wound two or three turns of the worsted round the kitten's neck, just to see how it would look: this led to a scramble, in which the ball rolled down upon the floor, and yards and yards of it got unwound again.

Which of the following words or phrases could replace the underlined uses of the word “ought” in the first sentence of the fourth paragraph without changing the meaning of Alice’s statement?

Read the sentences and determine which part(s) help you determine the meaning of the underlined word.

My cousin has always been the class-clown type of student and last week he outdid even himself. This prank was not intended to play out the way it did so when his pants split in front of everyone at the pep rally and the watermelon fell on his head he was the cause of much mirth. Students were talking about it for days after and you could see tears rolling down their faces, hear snorts of laughter, and watch reenactments all through the lunchroom.

Read the sentences and determine the meaning of the underlined word using sentence clues or your prior knowledge.

Samantha was mortified when she discovered that her mother had read her diary. She had her most private thoughts in that book! Samantha had written about the time she talked to her crush all afternoon with spinach between her teeth and when she slipped in the mud running to class. She would never be able to face her mother.

What does the word mortified mean in the context of the sentences above?

Read the sentences and determine which part(s) help you determine the meaning of the underlined word.

The wedding guests all whispered amongst themselves and looked from side to side. They were gossiping about Stephanie, the capricious bride. The music started but no bride came down the aisle. The groom’s family reminded him of other similar behaviors Stephanie exhibited: sky-diving, booking a cross-country trip on a whim, and dying her hair a new color every other week.

Which words or phrases from the passage best help you determine the meaning of the word capricious?

Adapted from Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (1871)

One thing was certain, that the white kitten had had nothing to do with it—it was the black kitten's fault entirely. For the white kitten had been having its face washed by the old cat for the last quarter of an hour (and bearing it pretty well, considering); so you see that it COULDN'T have had any hand in the mischief.

The way Dinah washed her children's faces was this: first she held the poor thing down by its ear with one paw, and then with the other paw she rubbed its face all over, the wrong way, beginning at the nose: and just now, as I said, she was hard at work on the white kitten, which was lying quite still and trying to purr—no doubt feeling that it was all meant for its good.

But the black kitten had been finished with earlier in the afternoon, and so, while Alice was sitting curled up in a corner of the great arm-chair, half talking to herself and half asleep, the kitten had been having a grand game of romps with the ball of worsted Alice had been trying to wind up, and had been rolling it up and down till it had all come undone again; and there it was, spread over the hearth-rug, all knots and tangles, with the kitten running after its own tail in the middle.

'Oh, you wicked little thing!' cried Alice, catching up the kitten, and giving it a little kiss to make it understand that it was in disgrace. 'Really, Dinah ought to have taught you better manners! You OUGHT, Dinah, you know you ought!' she added, looking reproachfully at the old cat, and speaking in as cross a voice as she could manage—and then she scrambled back into the arm-chair, taking the kitten and the worsted with her, and began winding up the ball again. But she didn't get on very fast, as she was talking all the time, sometimes to the kitten, and sometimes to herself. Kitty sat very demurely on her knee, pretending to watch the progress of the winding, and now and then putting out one paw and gently touching the ball, as if it would be glad to help, if it might.

'Do you know what to-morrow is, Kitty?' Alice began. 'You'd have guessed if you'd been up in the window with me—only Dinah was making you tidy, so you couldn't. I was watching the boys getting in sticks for the bonfire—and it wants plenty of sticks, Kitty! Only it got so cold, and it snowed so, they had to leave off. Never mind, Kitty, we'll go and see the bonfire to-morrow.' Here Alice wound two or three turns of the worsted round the kitten's neck, just to see how it would look: this led to a scramble, in which the ball rolled down upon the floor, and yards and yards of it got unwound again.

Based on the way in which the word is used in the passage, the word “worsted” refers to a type of __________.