Context Clues: Read the Words Around It

When you meet a word you don't know, don't stop. Read the whole sentence, and maybe the next one. The other words, called context clues, often tell you what it means. Read: 'The soup was so scalding that it burned my tongue.

' You might not know 'scalding'. But the soup burned a tongue, so scalding must mean very, very hot. Here's another: 'Lin was famished, so she ate two big plates of food. ' Someone who eats that much must be very hungry. That's what famished means.

• 1Keep reading past a new word.
• 2The words around it are context clues.
• 3Ask: what would make sense here?