Building Vocabulary for Reading and Speaking

When learning new vocabulary, you will discover that many words have multiple meanings. For example, the word “duty” has three main definitions:

• a responsibility
• a task (as part of a job, for example)
• a tax you pay on a purchased product

To understand which meaning of a word is being used, pay attention to the context in which the word is situated (also see Predicting the Meaning of Unknown Words).

What does "solution" mean in the following sentence?

There is no single solution to the problem of unemployment.

1. a liquid mixture
2. a method to solve a problem
3. the answer to a mathematical problem or puzzle

The best definition is B since “solution” is followed by “to the problem” in the sentence.

What does "capital" mean in the following sentences?

The T in Toronto must be a capital letter because it is a proper noun and also the capital of Ontario, Canada. An important fact about Toronto is that it is a major economic hub in the province/country. Therefore, a lot of capital is brought there.

1. the most important city of a region or country, where its government resides
2. money or assets to start a business, for example
3. a large letter of the alphabet to be used with names or at the beginning of a sentence

“Capital” has multiple meanings in the above excerpt.

The first “capital” is C because there is mention of the letter T as well as Toronto being a proper noun.
The second “capital” is A since it appears before the mention of the Canadian province, Ontario.
The third “capital” is B because the previous sentence stated that Toronto is a major economic hub.

Words can have multiple meanings and multiple word classes. For instance, a word can act as a noun in one context and an adjective in another. Sometimes, there may be a difference in pronunciation as well.

To note these distinctions, pay attention to the context in which a word is situated, particularly its grammatical context. Here are a couple of examples:

• The activists decided to form an organization which aims to spread awareness about youth poverty.
  • While “form” as a noun means a specific type of thing, it is being used as a verb in the above sentence. By being placed before the infinitive “to,” “form” now means to create something.
• This is a minute problem when compared to the other issues humanity must face.
  • While “minute” as a noun can refer to 60 seconds or just a short period of time, it is being used as an adjective here. By appearing before the noun “problem,” “minute” now means very small (with the I sounding like “eye” and the U sounding like “oo”).

• Invest in a comprehensive (academic) English dictionary that provides example sentences showing the multiple meanings and forms of a word.
• Keep a vocabulary journal where you can record new instances of how a word is used in the texts you encounter.