Learn the 3-Step Method
1Read the whole sentence — and its neighbours.
The clues sit before AND after the hard word.
2Swap in a guess.
Try ‘extremely hungry’ in the slot: does the sentence still make sense? Yes.
3Check the word's job.
Is it describing (adjective), doing (verb), naming (noun)? Your answer must do the same job.
Worked Example
‘The old bridge was so decrepit that the council closed it before winter.’ What does ‘decrepit’ mean?
Watch Out! Common Mistakes
Careful! ‘Decrepit’ is not ‘decorated’. Similar spelling ≠ similar meaning — always run the swap test.
The clues are the point! Guessing from the word alone wastes the sentence’s free help — the council CLOSED the bridge for a reason.
Same job! ‘Decrepit’ describes — the answer must describe too (‘falling apart’), not name (‘ruin’) or do (‘collapse’).
⬇ Cheat Sheet
- Read the sentence before and after the word.
- Guess, then SWAP the guess into the slot.
- Match the word's job (describing/doing/naming).
- Beware look-alike spelling traps.
📖 Continue Your Journey
Quick summary
- The surrounding sentence usually contains the clues to a hard word.
- Swap your guessed meaning into the slot — the sentence must still work.
- Match the word's job: describing words need describing answers.
- Similar spelling does not mean similar meaning.
Frequently asked questions
How do you work out an unknown word's meaning?
Read the sentences around it for clues, guess a meaning, then swap the guess into the word's place — if the sentence still makes sense, the guess is probably right.
What are look-alike traps?
Multiple-choice options that resemble the target word's spelling (decrepit/decorated) but mean something different. The swap test exposes them.
Why does word class matter?
Because the meaning must do the same grammatical job — an adjective like 'decrepit' can't mean a thing or an action, so options of the wrong class are automatically wrong.
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