SEAGReady
Reading ComprehensionP6 level10 questions in the full course

Words in ContextSEAG Practice Questions

Working out what a word or phrase means as it is used in this particular passage: using surrounding clues for unfamiliar words, and answering 'closest in meaning' questions by substituting each option back into the sentence.

Where your child meets this in real life: Understanding new words in library books, news reports and instructions without stopping to ask or look them up

What your child needs to know

SEAGReady breaks words in context into 2 steps, taught in order so each skill builds on the last.

  1. 1

    Work Out a New Word

    Use the clues in the surrounding sentences to work out the meaning of an unfamiliar word, then check the meaning makes sense in its place.

  2. 2

    Closest in Meaning

    Answer 'which word is closest in meaning?' questions by substituting each option into the original sentence - especially when the word has several meanings and the passage uses a less common one.

Try these SEAG-style questions

Read the passages below, then try these free sample questions from our words in context course. Every question comes with a full explanation, and hints that guide without giving the answer away.

Read the passage

The Fog on the Mountain

Fiction
The rain had been falling since breakfast, and by the time Erin and her cousin Tom reached the halfway gate, their socks were sodden. Water squelched between Erin's toes with every step. They trudged up the stony path towards the top of Slieve Binnian, heads down and boots dragging, too weary even to talk. At the top gate, Tom stopped. 'We could turn back,' he said hopefully. Erin shook her head and kept climbing, so Tom followed her reluctantly, sighing with every step and glancing back down at the warm lights of the valley. Near the summit, the fog thinned, and Erin found a faint path winding between the boulders - so light and worn it was hardly there at all. Then, all at once, they climbed out of the fog and into sunshine. Below them the clouds lay like a white sea, stretching all the way to the Irish Sea, and the air was completely still: not a breath of wind stirred, and nothing moved but their own two shadows. Tom forgot that he had ever wanted to turn back. 'Worth every soggy step,' he admitted, and Erin grinned as they shared the last square of chocolate beside the summit cairn.
Question 1Confidence builder

In 'The Fog on the Mountain', the text says: 'by the time Erin and her cousin Tom reached the halfway gate, their socks were sodden. Water squelched between Erin's toes with every step.' What does 'sodden' mean in this passage?

  • Asoaking wet
  • Bbrand new
  • Cvery warm
  • Dfull of holes
  • Eextremely dirty
Show answer and explanation

Answer: A. soaking wet

The clues around the word give its meaning: 'The rain had been falling since breakfast' and 'Water squelched between Erin's toes with every step.' Socks that squelch after hours of rain must be soaking wet - swap 'soaking wet' into the sentence and it makes perfect sense. That is what 'sodden' means.

Stuck? Start here: Find the word 'sodden' and read the sentences around it, not just the word itself.

Question 2Confidence builder

In 'The Fog on the Mountain', Erin and Tom trudge up the path 'heads down and boots dragging, too weary even to talk.' Which word is closest in meaning to 'weary' as it is used here?

  • Atired
  • Bhungry
  • Ccold
  • Dexcited
  • Ebored
Show answer and explanation

Answer: A. tired

Substitute each option into the sentence: 'heads down and boots dragging, too tired even to talk' keeps exactly the same meaning - dragging boots and silence are signs of tiredness. - hungry and cold fit the situation but not the word - excited contradicts the clues 'Tired' is closest in meaning to 'weary'.

Stuck? Start here: Find 'weary' and look at the clues in the same sentence: heads down, boots dragging.

Read the passage

The Return of the Red Squirrel

Non-fiction
Fifty years ago, red squirrels were a common sight across Northern Ireland. Since then, their numbers have dwindled: where thousands once chattered in the treetops, only small, scattered groups remain. The main reason is the arrival of the larger grey squirrel, which competes with the reds for food and carries a disease called squirrelpox. Red squirrels are elusive creatures. They spend most of their lives high in the branches, freeze at the first hint of danger, and can vanish behind a tree trunk faster than you can point. Even experienced wildlife watchers may wait for hours to catch a single glimpse of one. The best time to try is early on an autumn morning, when the squirrels are busy burying hazelnuts for the winter ahead. There is good news, however. In the Glens of Antrim and in the forests around Tollymore, conservation groups have created refuges for the reds - safe woodlands where grey squirrels are kept out and feeding boxes are kept full. Last spring, a walker spotted a red squirrel near Glenariff waterfall for the first time in twenty years, and rangers believe the species' range is slowly beginning to spread once more.
Question 3Confidence builder

In 'The Return of the Red Squirrel', the text says: 'their numbers have dwindled: where thousands once chattered in the treetops, only small, scattered groups remain.' What does 'dwindled' mean?

  • Aspread more widely
  • Bbecome much smaller
  • Cstayed the same
  • Ddoubled in size
  • Emoved to a new location
Show answer and explanation

Answer: B. become much smaller

The writer explains the word immediately after the colon: 'where thousands once chattered in the treetops, only small, scattered groups remain.' Going from thousands to small scattered groups means the numbers have become much smaller - that is what 'dwindled' means.

Stuck? Start here: Find 'dwindled' and read past the colon - the writer explains the word straight after it.

Try the lesson: Work Out a New Word

This is the exact interactive worked example your child sees in SEAGReady. Step through it and watch the method build up.

Read this extract from a story. 'By the time they reached the top of Slieve Donard, the walkers were ravenous. They had eaten nothing since seven that morning, and Oisin tore into his sandwiches the moment his rucksack hit the ground.'

What does the word 'ravenous' mean in this passage?

Find the word and read around it
1

Locate 'ravenous' - it describes the walkers at the top of the mountain

Step 1 of 6

Prefer to read? See every step written out

Read this extract from a story. 'By the time they reached the top of Slieve Donard, the walkers were ravenous. They had eaten nothing since seven that morning, and Oisin tore into his sandwiches the moment his rucksack hit the ground.'

What does the word 'ravenous' mean in this passage?

  1. 1

    Find the word and read around it

    • Locate 'ravenous' - it describes the walkers at the top of the mountain
    • Read the sentences before AND after the word, not just the word itself
  2. 2

    Collect the context clues

    • Clue: 'They had eaten nothing since seven that morning'
    • Clue: Oisin 'tore into his sandwiches the moment his rucksack hit the ground'
  3. 3

    Make a guess and test it

    • People who have not eaten all day and grab food instantly must be extremely hungry
    • Test by swapping in your guess: 'the walkers were extremely hungry' - the sentence still makes perfect sense

'Ravenous' means extremely hungry - the missed meals and Oisin tearing into his sandwiches are the clues.

The key insight: You do not need a dictionary in the exam - the writer has hidden the meaning in the sentences around the word!

Watch out: Guessing 'tired' because the walkers had climbed a mountain. That guess comes from the situation, not the clues. The text's clues are all about food and eating, which point to hunger, not tiredness.

Mistakes to watch for

These are the misconceptions we see most often in words in context, including the ones our practice questions are specifically designed to catch.

  • Panicking at an unfamiliar word instead of using the sentence around it
  • Choosing a word's most common meaning when the passage uses a different one
  • Picking an option that means nearly the right thing but does not fit the sentence

Build these skills first

Struggling with words in context? The real gap is often in one of these earlier topics.

Finding Information in the Text

More reading comprehension practice

Reading Between the LinesHow Writers Use LanguageReading PoetryText Types, Purpose and Audience
10 questions on this topic alone

Master words in context and everything it unlocks

SEAGReady finds the exact step where your child gets stuck, teaches it with worked examples like the one above, and brings it back for review so it sticks.

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