Vocabulary in Context

In the GL 11+ exam, you will often be asked what a word means in the context of the passage. This is not the same as knowing a dictionary definition — it means working out what the word means in the sentence where it appears.

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Why Does Context Matter?

Many English words have more than one meaning. The meaning depends on how the word is used.

Word	Meaning 1	Meaning 2
light	Not heavy	Brightness
bank	A financial institution	The side of a river
ring	A piece of jewellery	To make a sound (telephone)
match	A game or contest	A small stick used to make fire
bat	A piece of sports equipment	A flying animal

In the exam, you must read the surrounding sentences to decide which meaning fits.

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How to Work Out Word Meanings

Even if you have never seen a word before, you can often work out its meaning using these strategies:

Strategy 1: Read the surrounding sentences

The words around an unfamiliar word (the context) often give you strong clues.

The castle was impregnable — no army had ever managed to break through its thick walls and deep moat.

Even if you do not know "impregnable," the phrase "no army had ever managed to break through" tells you it means impossible to capture or enter.

Strategy 2: Look for synonyms or explanations nearby

Writers often explain difficult words within the same sentence.

She felt a sense of trepidation, a nervous fear, as she approached the dark cave.

Here, "a nervous fear" explains what trepidation means.

Strategy 3: Use the tone of the sentence

Is the sentence positive or negative? Happy or sad? This can help you decide what a word means.

The garden was resplendent with colour — roses, tulips, and sunflowers bloomed in every corner.

The positive tone ("colour," "roses," "bloomed") tells you that resplendent means something positive — in this case, brilliant, splendid, or dazzling.

Strategy 4: Break the word apart

Many English words are built from smaller parts. Recognising these parts can help you guess the meaning.

Word part	Meaning	Example
un-	not	unhappy = not happy
re-	again	rebuild = build again
dis-	not / opposite	disagree = not agree
mis-	wrongly	misunderstand = understand wrongly
pre-	before	preview = view before
-ful	full of	hopeful = full of hope
-less	without	careless = without care
-tion / -sion	the act of	celebration = the act of celebrating
-ous	full of / having	dangerous = full of danger
-able / -ible	can be	readable = can be read

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Common 11+ Vocabulary Words

Here are some words that come up frequently in 11+ comprehension passages. Learn them!