TEAS Ready✍️ Reading · Craft and Structure · Lesson 2 of 5 · 4 min
Word meaning from context: use the clues around the word
🔤 You will meet words you don't know on the TEAS, and in nursing school every day. The sentence around a word usually tells you what it means.
💡 Key idea
Predict a word from the clues, then plug each choice into the sentence and keep the one that fits.
🧠 The idea
CONTEXT CLUES are hints in nearby words. A DEFINITION clue states the meaning outright, often after a comma, dash or "which means" ("edema, or swelling"). A SYNONYM clue repeats the idea in other words. An ANTONYM clue sets up a contrast with words like but, unlike, however or instead ("Unlike her timid brother, Ana was audacious" tells you audacious means bold). An EXAMPLE clue lists cases ("citrus fruits such as lemons and limes"). A general sense clue asks you to reason from the situation. Many words have more than one meaning, so the question is always what the word means IN THIS SENTENCE. Best method: cover the word, predict your own word, then plug each choice back in and keep the one that fits the sentence's meaning and tone.
✏️ Worked example
"The patient was lethargic all morning, sleeping through breakfast and barely answering questions, but by evening she was alert and chatty." Cover "lethargic." The examples (sleeping through breakfast, barely answering) and the contrast word "but" with "alert and chatty" point to a meaning like "sluggish and drowsy." Plug in the choices: "angry" doesn't match sleeping; "confused" doesn't fit the contrast with alert; "drowsy and slow" fits every clue. That is the answer.
📌 Takeaways
- Look for definition, synonym, antonym and example clues.
- Contrast words (but, unlike) flip the meaning.
- Choose the meaning that fits THIS sentence.
✅ Check yourself
Question 1 of 3
"Unlike the cramped old waiting room, the new one is spacious." What does "spacious" mean?
- Brightly lit
- Roomy
- Quiet
- Crowded
Show the answer and rationale
Answer: B
The contrast word "unlike" sets "spacious" against "cramped," so it must mean roomy. "Crowded" is close to cramped, the opposite of what is needed, and nothing in the sentence is about light or sound.
Question 2 of 3
"The coach's feedback was candid; she told each player exactly what needed work." Which clue type explains "candid"?
- A definition given in parentheses
- A restatement after the semicolon
- A list of examples after "such as"
- An antonym set up by the word "unlike"
Show the answer and rationale
Answer: B
The words after the semicolon restate the idea: telling players exactly what needed work shows that candid means frank and honest. The sentence has no contrast word, no "such as" list and no parentheses.
Question 3 of 3
"The nurse will chart the patient's blood pressure every hour." In this sentence, "chart" most nearly means
- plan a route for
- compare
- record
- draw a map of
Show the answer and rationale
Answer: C
In a health care setting, charting a blood pressure means writing it in the record. "Draw a map of" and "plan a route for" are other meanings of the word that do not fit a blood pressure, and "compare" adds an idea the sentence does not state.
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