Which term would you use to describe a hint within text used to understand unfamiliar words?

• A. Text Features
• B. Main Idea
• C. Context Clues
• D. Reasons

Answer: (C)

Context clues describe the hints tucked into the surrounding text that let you infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word. These clues can be a short definition embedded in the sentence, a synonym or restatement nearby, an example that shows the word’s meaning, or a contrast that highlights what the word does not mean. Using context clues helps you figure out meanings without stopping to look them up, which is a core reading strategy.

Text features are parts of the page like headings, bolded terms, captions, or sidebars that organize information or draw attention to elements, but they don’t provide the word meanings from the actual sentence. The main idea is the overall point or argument of the passage, not a method for decoding word meanings. Reasons refer to explanations or justifications in writing, not to word-meaning clues in context.

So, the term that fits a hint within text used to understand unfamiliar words is context clues.