This is the only guide you will need for Words in Context questions.
In fact, in this post, I will show you the exact method I used to ace this type of question, and eventually get 1600.
So whether you are new to the SAT or already got 1500+, I hope you will learn a lot of tricks from this post.
In the SAT, Words in context questions asks students to pick the most fitting word or phrase to fill in the blank or replace a word in the passage.
Note that instead of merely testing your vocab range, these questions test your ability to reason out the meaning of a word based on the surrounding words.
Below is an example (from Official Bluebook Practice Test #4):
As you can see, Words in Context has shorter passages compared to other Reading question types.
Based on the official practice test, There are 2-8 Words in context questions per module.
Moreover, these questions will always appear first in each module.
There are 2 types of words in context questions on the SAT
For this type, the provided passage will have 1 word replaced with a blank (______).
Your job is to pick the answer choice that is most suitable to (you guess it) fill in the blank.
The one you saw above is of this type.
In fact, the majority of Words in Context questions will be this type.
For this one, you will be given a passage adapted from a novel or play. One word in the passage will be underlined.
The question will ask you to choose the answer choice that is closest in meaning to the underlined word.
You don't need to have any prior knowledge of the novel to answer these: everything you need will be provided.
Words in context is one of, if not, the most important question types in the digital SAT.
Why?
The ability to guess the meaning of a word based on surrounding contextual clues is called Lexical Inference.
Lexical Inference is extremely important for the entire Reading section.
Which means that in module 2, you will encounter passages that contain academic words used in actual research papers and formal articles.
When I first started, I only understand half of the words used in passages (probably the same for you, non-native speakers).
But imagine if you can still understand the passage without knowing 50% of it.
That's the power of Lexical Inference.
Lucky for us, by studying for Words in Context questions, you are also training your Lexical Inference.
Which means you don't have to do anything extra!
In summary, you are killing 2 birds with 1 stone by focusing on Words in Context question:
- You learn how to do the question type itself, but more importantly...
- You sharpen your Lexical Inferencing skills, which help you navigate through complex passages in later questions.
So, how do we approach vocabulary in context questions?
As with most questions, the RAPLE method can be used here:
1. Read the question
2. Analyze the passage
3. Predict the answer
4. Look at the answer choices.
5. Eliminate wrong choices and find the correct answer
The approach is rather intuitive for a multiple-choice question.
However, I need to emphasize that you should always try to come up with your own answer before reading the 4 answer choices.
The prediction doesn't need to be the precise word meaning.
You just need to have a vague picture of what the correct answer choice would look like.
This streamlines your thought process and helps clearing everything up so you don't second-guess your own answer.
But how can you predict the answer exactly?
Context clues are words or phrases that give you a hint to what the meaning of the blank might be.
Context clues are what matters.
For vocabulary questions, you don't need to understand the entire passage thoroughly to find the correct answer.
It will definitely help, but just having a vague idea of what's going on is good enough. Comprehension skills are a focus of another topic.
So, instead of skimming the passage, you should watch out for context clues.
They can be one of the following:
- Colons
- Paraphrased versions
- Transitions
This is the most obvious contextual clue you will ever get.
While these are the focus of Writing questions, you can still apply them in Words in Context reading questions.
The phrase after the colon will basically be the sentence before it but paraphrased.
This is a huge information gain.
For example, let's take a look at this official practice question; no need to look at the answer choices just yet:
Knowing that the 2 phrases are the same, you can probably match the blank with "pleasant musical quality".
As a result, the correct answer choice must convey this idea as well.
Let's try another one:
This time, the colon is literally spelling out what the blank means.
The phrase behind the colon states that "over 90%" can use the language.
Thus, the blank must also carry the same meaning as this statement.
The word we are looking for is "widespread", or at least something very similar to that.
In most passages, a contextual paraphrased versions of the sentence containing the blank will be provided.
Traditionally, a paraphrased version is simply a restatement of a text.
However, a contextual paraphrased versions can also provide more context to the blank, such as definition, details, and example.
If you can spot these paraphrased versions and understand them, you will figure out what the blank means.
So how do we spot them?
Colons are the most obvious signal.
In the above examples, the phrase behind the colons are essentially contextual paraphrased versions.
However, they can also appear in random spots around the blank.
Take a look at this official practice question:
The word we need to find will express the relationship between “fine art” and “fashion”.
Right after the blank, the passage describes a relationship between "artists" and "designers": they are opposite of each other.
This is actually a contextual paraphrased version.
If you notice that "artists" and "designers" are the creators of "fine art" and "fashion", you can easily assume that the relationship between them will be similar.
Thus, the word to put in the blank must describe this opposite relationship.
One possible word is "intersect": fine art and fashion rarely intersect with each other.
If you have already prep for Writing questions, you should already know that there are 3 types of transitions:
- Additives provide additional context.
- Adversatives are used to provide contrast.
- Causals signal a cause-and-effect relationship.
Pay attention to transitions around the blank/underlined word.
They are showing you the relationships between the blank and the words around it.
And that's more information for you to find the right word.
For example, let's take a look at this passage:
Based on the transition "yet", you know the phrase containing the blank will have to go against the "fallen" price.
Thus, a suitable word to put in the blank here is "to raise".
Sometimes though, the logical step won't be that easy:
In this one, the transition "so" gives us a hint on what the blank means.
At this point, you should already think: "what scenario would charities favor few large donors over many small donors?"
The answer: It should convey the idea that nuisance costs do not change significantly based on the size of the donation.
That would explain why few large donors are better. If they have to spend the same amount to get a donor anyway, why not get a big one?
So, a possible word for the blank is "independent of".
Noticing these context clues will take some practice. However, once you have mastered it, figuring out the meaning of the blank should be a cakewalk.
But what if, even with all that information, you still can't figure it out?
A Charge can be positive, negative, or neutral.
Similarly, a word can also carries a positive, negative, or neutral connotation.
For example, "meticulous" and "selective", and "picky" are direct synonyms: they all mean "showing attention to details".
However, the first one is considered a positive trait to have, while the last one is more negative.
Being "selective" is neutral: when you call someone "selective", you probably don't mean anything good nor bad.
How can you apply this to vocabulary questions?
The overall tone of the passage and the blank most likely will match.
For example, if a passage is being positive about an author, the blank that is used to describe that author must also be positive.
Let's try a practice passage:
Overall, the passage has a negative tone, with words like "looming trouble".
Therefore, the word that best fits the blank must also carry a negative connotation.
You don't need to know what it is exactly. Just keeping a mental note that it is negative is good enough. It keeps you on the right track.
Moreover, later on, when we finally look through the answer choices, you can eliminate those that are not negative.
At this point, you should have no trouble figuring out the meaning of the blank without looking at the multiple-choice answers. Let's finally check them out.
Now that you have figured out the general meaning of the blank, it's time to look at the answer choices.
Let's look at this example:
Your favorite punctuation (colon) should now tell you that the information behind it is important.
After reading that part more carefully, you will know that the word in the blank must have the same contextual meaning as "low species richness".
Looking at the answer choices...
Why are there so many hard words?
If you ever get yourself into this situation, it's gonna be an uphill battle from here.
However, there are still some tricks you can do to salvage the situation.
Just plugging the word in can help tremendously.
Try reading the sentence with the answer choice inside the blank. If it sounds natural to you, it has a higher chance of being the correct answer.
Of course, some words have nuanced meanings. However, you are kinda out of option at this point.
This strategy can apply for both Fill-in-the-blank and Fiction.
However, it works way better for the latter. This is because the underlined word in Fiction can be whatever the author wanted it to be.
Let's look at an example:
For this question, simply plugging each answer choice in and see how they fit is the best approach.
Even if you don’t understand what it’s saying, “twelve or fourteen dollars” directly points to (D), even though it is far from the dictionary definition of “vase”.
A root word is the most basic part of a word that carries its core meaning.
It is the foundation to which prefixes (beginnings) and suffixes (endings) can be added to create new words.
They are technically called Morphemes. However, I prefer to call them Word Blocks.
Think about it. They are the same as Lego blocks: you connect them together, maybe mix and match a bit, and you have a new word.
For example, the word unfriendly is made up of 3 Word Blocks:
- prefix un-, which means "the opposite of",
- root friend,
- suffix -ly, which usually signal adverbs.
There are 2 main reasons why you should learn Word Blocks instead of memorizing individual words.
- Word Blocks are easier to memorize: This is simply because they are shorter. Moreover, if you read a lot, you will naturally recognize the common ones.
- There are way less Word Blocks than Words: Compared to about a million English words, you only have to learn a few dozens of Word Blocks for the SAT.
Let's go back to the previous practice question.
If you know the root homo- means "the same", you can connect it with "low species richness": in "low species richness" patches, most flowers are of the same species.
As a result, "homogenuous" is a promising answer.
If this sounds too hard for you, try to think of words with the same Word Block (homophone or homophobia).
You can also use Word Blocks to eliminate answer choices as well.
The prefix de- means down or away (think decline, delete, decrease, etc.). This doesn't really fit what we are looking for. Thus, we can eliminate "deplete".
In my opinion, this strategy is a bit advanced. Since time is a factor, you should only try it out for 15-20 seconds. If you still can't come up with anything afterwards, just pick a random choice and move on.
In the digital SAT, you might encounter a word that is extremely simple and obviously wrong.
These words are most likely being used with their second, less known meaning.
What's worse is that the second meaning sometimes has nothing to do with the original meaning!
For example, "afford" normally means "have enough money for". However, it can also mean "to provide".
Luckily, as Erica Meltzer noted in her book, words with second meanings are more often than not the correct answer.
In fact, she noticed the pattern all the way back in 2012, when the paper-based test was still a thing!
So the next time you bump into one, that should be your preferred answer.
Let's try a practice question:
Through words like “remarkable success” and “inspiring”, you can already guess that the word in the blank has a positive connotation.
Looking at the answers: you might be able to eliminate (A) and (C) right away because they have a negative tone.
You might eliminate (B) because its common meaning, which is to recognize, doesn’t fit in the context.
However, “realize” in this context also means “to achieve”. Hence (B) is the correct answer.
Overall, it is extremely useful to know more second meanings. The approach might seem too "hacky", but it actually work. Just remember to apply it with a tiny grain of salt.
If you have tried everything and still couldn't find the answer, it's time to move on to the next question.
No matter how long you stare at the same passage and answer choices, new information are not gonna pop up.
Since there's not much information provided in the passage of this question type, you can extract out all of the information relatively fast.
So don't waste more time staring at the same information, hoping you would get something out of it.
If you have already eliminated 1-2 answer choices, that's more than enough. Probability wise, you just earned yourself 0.33-0.5 raw score.
Use the time you save on more important tasks first, such as another question or double-checking.
The digital SAT is deterministic: answer choices are either correct or incorrect.
So if you encounter an answer choice that makes a tiny bit of sense, but not entirely correct, it is definitely incorrect. Don't overthink.
Similarly, if you are stuck between 2 options: a word that you know and a word that you don't know, there can only be 2 possible scenarios:
- The word you know fits the blank, so it is correct.
- The word you know does not fit the blank, so the other word is correct.
If you’re already reading challenging articles daily, you’ll recognize most of the words on the SAT.
However, if academic vocabulary isn’t your strong suit, you’ll need to spend some time building it up, possibly with an SAT advanced vocabulary list.
Remember though, quality matters more than quantity.
If you have heard of the 80/20 rule, it also applies here.
20% of the most common words will appear 80% of the time. No need to learn the other 80%.
The SAT tests college readiness, so its vocabulary reflects the kind of words commonly found in research papers you will read in higher education.
There’s no need to memorize 500 obscure words like sesquipedalian (which ironically means “long words”)—you’re unlikely to see them on the test.
Since 2024, College Board started including a few obscure words like that one every now and then. However, I still don't think it's worth it to study thousands of words just for these.
First of all, the hardest questions in the SAT worth the least points.
Second of all, studying niche words feel more like buying lottery tickets and pray than actually learning a skill.
So if you decide to cram down a vocab list, at least pick one that is selective and not bloated just for the number of words to go up.
I personally recommend Erica Meltzer's vocabulary books, including the paper-SAT one and the new one. They not only provide a word list, but also tips on how to deal with hard words in the test as well.
Hopefully, thanks to "Words in Context: the Definitive Guide", you can know ace the Words in Context category without learning too many new words.
This blog is the first of a 5-blog series about Words in Context. If you like this blog, you probably don't want to miss the next 4.
These blogs take a bit long to make, so expect them to drop once or twice per month.
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