Lesson T1.3.1

T1.3.1 New vocabulary in context and dictionaries Quiz: KS3 English, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson T1.3.1, New vocabulary in context and dictionaries: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 English (National Curriculum), Unit 1: Reading, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is a dictionary 'definition'?

    • The meaning of a word, usually given in a short explanation in the entry
    • The original language from which a word was borrowed, given at the end of the entry
    • A list of words that rhyme with the entry word, printed in a column beside it
    • The number of syllables in a word, shown in brackets after the entry word

  2. What is a synonym?

    • A word with the same or a similar meaning to another word
    • A word spelled the same as another word but with a different meaning
    • A word with the opposite meaning to another word used in the same sentence
    • A word formed by joining two smaller words together to make a new compound

  3. What is an antonym?

    • A word formed by adding a prefix to the start of a root word to change its meaning
    • A word that describes a noun, such as bright or heavy, placed before it in a phrase
    • A word that sounds the same as another word but has a different spelling
    • A word with the opposite meaning to another word, such as hot and cold

  4. What is a 'root word'?

    • The first word in a sentence, which always begins with a capital letter
    • The name of the entry that appears at the top of each page in a dictionary
    • The base part of a word to which prefixes or suffixes can be added
    • The final syllable of a word, which is always stressed when the word is spoken aloud

  5. What does the prefix 'mis-' mean?

    • Not or the opposite of, as in unhappy, which means not happy at all
    • Before in time, as in preview, which means to view something ahead of its release
    • Wrongly or badly, as in misjudge, which means to judge wrongly
    • Again or back, as in rewrite, which means to write something once more

  6. What does the suffix '-ful' mean when added to a word such as 'care'?

    • Full of, so careful means full of care
    • Without, so careless means without care or attention
    • The state of being, so carefulness is the quality of being careful and thorough
    • Again, so carefully would mean to take care once more in the same way

  7. A student reads 'The storm was ferocious, and the trees bent under its force.' What does 'ferocious' most likely mean?

    • Gentle and soft, bringing only a light breeze across the open fields
    • Cold and icy, with a thick fog that covers the land for many days
    • Violent and fierce, showing great force that could cause damage
    • Quiet and calm, with no movement in the air across the quiet valley

  8. In the sentence 'The villagers were wary of the stranger's motives', 'wary' most likely means

    • Happy and eager to welcome a guest into their homes and celebrate with him
    • Angry and loud in their public complaints about the taxes in the village
    • Tired and sleepy after a long walk through the hills on a hot afternoon
    • Cautious and on guard, expecting that there might be danger or trickery

  9. A text says 'Her candour surprised everyone; she always spoke the truth openly.' What does 'candour' mean?

    • Honesty and openness in speech, even when the truth is uncomfortable
    • Skill in drawing pictures of people's faces with pencils and fine brushes
    • Hidden anger that is kept secret from others until a later moment in the story
    • Fear of being noticed by a large crowd when standing in a public place

  10. 'The explanation was lucid, so every student understood it.' What is the best meaning of 'lucid'?

    • Clear and easy to understand, so that the meaning is plain to the listener
    • Dark and difficult to see through, so that the meaning is hidden from the listener
    • Rapid and sudden in its arrival, so that listeners had no time to prepare
    • Quiet and reluctant to speak in public, so that the explanation was very short

  11. 'The chef's new dish was a culinary triumph.' What does 'culinary' relate to?

    • Sport and the rules of competitive games played between two opposing teams
    • Clothing and the fashion trends of a particular century in European history
    • Cooking and the preparation of food, especially in a skilled way
    • Music and singing performed in public halls by a trained choir and orchestra

  12. A student reads 'the boat was buoyant'. Which phrase best explains the word 'buoyant'?

    • Able to float on water and stay on the surface without sinking
    • Broken into pieces and unable to hold any cargo or passengers at all
    • Very heavy and difficult to move across the calm water of the harbour
    • Sinking quickly to the bottom of the water and staying hidden there

  13. 'The argument was lacking in logic.' Which word could replace 'lacking in logic' most precisely?

    • Illogical, meaning that it does not follow sound reasoning
    • Musical, meaning that the argument was pleasant to listen to in a room
    • Ancient, meaning that the argument was very old and had been made before
    • Enormous, meaning that the argument was very large and wide in its scope

  14. A student uses a thesaurus to replace 'big' in an essay. Which choice most improves precision?

    • Enormous, which suggests a far greater size than simply big
    • Large-ish, which is informal and suggests uncertainty about the size described
    • Biggest, which is a superlative form that does not fit the sentence grammatically
    • Bigly, which is not a standard English word and should not appear in formal writing

  15. Which word is a homophone of 'hair'?

    • Hairy, which has a different suffix and a different sound from the word hair
    • Hairs, which is a plural form with a different spelling and a different meaning
    • Hare, which is pronounced the same but means a wild animal similar to a rabbit
    • Hard, which differs from hair in both its spelling and the sound it makes

  16. Why do some dictionaries include word origins, called etymology?

    • They show where a word came from and can help explain its meaning
    • They show the price each word cost when it was first printed in old books
    • They list the most common spelling mistakes that writers make in essays and tests
    • They replace the need to read definitions by giving only pictures for each word

  17. What does the metaphor 'a tangled web of lies' most likely mean?

    • A text that has been written in a complicated and wordy style for readers
    • A real spider that has caught lies in its silk threads on a garden wall
    • A large piece of fabric used to protect secret lies from being seen by others
    • A complicated set of lies that is hard to untangle or unravel

  18. What is 'context' in relation to unfamiliar vocabulary?

    • The list of words at the back of a book that are not used in the main text itself
    • The number of letters and syllables that make up the word in its dictionary entry
    • The words, sentences and situation around an unfamiliar word that help show its meaning
    • The date and place in which a dictionary was first printed and published for readers

  19. Which word could replace 'hasty' in 'He made a hasty decision'?

    • Firm, meaning steady and unchanging in his view of the matter in hand
    • Deliberate, meaning slow and carefully considered in every detail before acting
    • Expensive, meaning costly and difficult to reverse once the choice is made
    • Rash, meaning quick and taken without enough careful thought

  20. A student says a word has 'connotations'. What does this mean?

    • The formal definition printed in the dictionary entry for each word listed
    • The sound a word makes when it is spoken aloud in a quiet and empty room
    • The number of separate meanings a single word has across different dictionaries
    • The extra feelings or associations a word suggests beyond its literal meaning

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