A frightened puppy huddled under the porch. Its fur was soaked, and it whimpered softly. Nina spoke in a gentle voice and offered a bowl of food, and the puppy came out.
Good readers do not stop when they meet a word they do not know. They look at the words around it for clues. Sometimes a nearby sentence explains the word, and sometimes the whole passage helps to show what it must mean. In The Storm, the words dark clouds and before the downpour began help a reader work out that a downpour is a heavy fall of rain. This worksheet prints one short passage, and then four words from it, one at a time.
The child circles the meaning of each word from three choices, using the passage to decide. One choice fits the passage, and the other two are meanings of other words. Ask your child to point to the words in the passage that gave them the clue, and to reread the sentence with the meaning put in place of the word.
What your child will learn
Use the words around a hard word to find its meaning
Reread the passage with the meaning in place of the word
Tell which words in the passage gave the clue
Common Core standard: L.2.4.A
Worked example
Dark clouds gathered, and Tom raced to the barn before the downpour began. The clouds and the hurry are clues, so a downpour is a heavy fall of rain.
Common mistake
Choosing a meaning that fits a different word instead of rereading the passage.
Helpful hint
Reread the sentence with each meaning in place of the word. Which one makes sense?
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