How do you figure out what a word means on GED reading?

Use the words around it. GED's official list of Language Arts skills includes working out what words and phrases mean as they are used in a text.^[1] GED's own study guide says you don't need to memorize "giant vocabulary words".^[2] Instead, look for context clues in the sentence and the sentences near it.^[3] Make a guess, then test it by putting it in the word's place.^[4] This post shows how, step by step, with examples we made up.

What the GED asks you to do

GED's list says this skill includes working out a word's connotative and figurative meanings from context.^[1] Those are two big words for two plain ideas. Connotation is the feeling a word carries.^[5] Figurative meaning comes from words used in a way that goes beyond their literal meaning.^[6] Both are explained below.

A related skill on the same list is seeing how meaning or tone changes when one word is swapped for another.^[1]

A GED sheet for teachers says students show this skill when they can tell what a word means in the specific sentence or sentences that give it context.^[7] The meaning that counts is the one the word has in that passage.

GED's technical manual says that when understanding a passage depends on vocabulary, the test focuses on words that show up often in texts from a wide range of subjects.^[8]

Start with the words around it

A context clue is a hint near a word you do not know: a word or phrase, in that sentence or one close to it, that helps you work out its meaning.^[3] So read the whole sentence first, then the sentence before it and the one after it.

One university reading lab sorts context clues into several kinds. Here are four of them, each with a sentence we made up. Think of them as kinds of help to look for, not as an official GED list.

Definition clue

The sentence defines the word for you.^[3]

Example: The new neighbor is an arborist, a person trained to care for trees.

The words after the comma tell you what an arborist is.

Synonym clue

A word or phrase nearby has a meaning close to the word you do not know.^[3]

Example: On his first day, the new cook was timid, too shy to ask where the pans were kept.

Shy is close in meaning to timid, so timid must mean something like shy.

Contrast clue

A word or phrase nearby means the opposite of the word you do not know. It often comes with signal words such as however, but, instead of, on the other hand, on the contrary and whereas.^[3]

Example: The first report was concise, but the second one ran on for twenty pages.

The word but signals a contrast: the second report was long, so concise must mean something like short.

Example clue

The sentence gives examples that show what the word means. They often come after signal words such as for example, for instance, to illustrate, like and such as.^[3]

Example: The garden draws pollinators, such as bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds all visit flowers, so a fair guess is that pollinators are creatures that visit flowers.

Look at the parts of the word

Many words are built from parts, and those parts can help you guess the meaning. There are three kinds: the root, which is the base of the word and has its own meaning; the prefix, a part added at the start; and the suffix, a part added at the end.^[9]

The same reading lab breaks autobiography into three parts: auto (oneself), bio (life) and graphy (writing).^[9] Put together, they point to writing about your own life. Once you know bio and graphy, you can take a fair guess at biography too: writing about someone's life.

Word parts give you a guess, not a sure answer. Check it in the sentence, as the next section shows.

Test your guess: put it back

Once you have a guess, reread the sentence with your guess in place of the hard word.^[4] Then keep reading. If your word does not make sense with the rest of the paragraph, try again.^[4]

Take the report sentence from above, with the guess in place: "The first report was short, but the second one ran on for twenty pages." It still makes sense, so short is a good guess for concise.

On a multiple-choice question, you can run the same test on each answer choice. Put each choice in the word's place, and see which one keeps the sentence and the paragraph making sense. This is our own suggestion, built on that college advice, not something GED says.

Our own tip: when you practice at home, look the word up in a dictionary afterward to check your guess.

Words with more than one meaning

Sometimes the word is one you know well, but it has several meanings. Try each meaning you know in the sentence until you find the one that makes good sense there.^[4]

Example: The new manager took charge of the kitchen on Monday.

Charge can mean a price, the energy stored in a battery, or control over something. Try each one in its place. Only control fits: the new manager took control of the kitchen. The meaning you think of first is not always the one the passage uses.

The feeling a word carries

A word's denotation is its dictionary meaning. Its connotation is the feeling or cultural meaning attached to it, and that feeling can be positive, negative or neutral.^[5] Two words can share almost the same dictionary meaning and still carry different feelings.^[5]

Compare these two sentences we made up:

• The neighbor is curious about everyone on the street.
• The neighbor is nosy about everyone on the street.

Both say the neighbor wants to know about other people. But curious sounds neutral, even friendly, while nosy sounds like a complaint.

This is the word-swap skill from GED's list: swap one word, and the meaning or tone can change.^[1] Tone is the writer's attitude toward the topic. When a word carries a strong feeling, ask what it tells you about how the writer sees the topic. Our post on inference questions shows how to check an answer against a writer's tone.

When words paint a picture

Here is figurative language at work, in a sentence we made up.

Example: By noon, the office was a beehive.

The office was not really a beehive. Think about what the two could share here: lots of busy movement. So the writer means the office was very busy. Put that back in the sentence, "By noon, the office was very busy", and it fits.

The steps in one list

Here are the steps above in the order we suggest:

1. Read the whole sentence, and the sentences around it.^[7]
2. Look for a clue: a definition, a synonym, a contrast or an example.^[3]
3. Look at the parts of the word.^[9]
4. Think about the feeling the word carries.^[5]
5. Put your guess in the word's place, and check that it fits the paragraph.^[4]

Try it yourself

Word meaning is one reading skill among many. For reading the big picture, see our post on finding the main idea.

Then try our free question on word meaning in context. It asks what a word means in a short article. Use the steps above, then read the feedback. On OpenEssayMe, the free practice questions need no sign-up, and every answer comes with feedback that explains each choice. Our practice is built on the skills of the real test and gives you a feel for it.