Practice Vocabulary Strategies

When you come across an unfamiliar word in your reading, there are several ways to find out the word’s meaning:

• Use context clues to understand the meaning by seeing how it is used in the text.
• Look up the word in a resource, like a dictionary or internet search, or check the resource’s glossary.
• Ask a teacher or classmate what it means.

Review: Context clues are found in surrounding words in the sentence or paragraph. A clue can be a definition, explanation, or the overall meaning of the sentence. Try using context clues to determine the meaning of bold words in the paragraph below, then answer the questions.

Medical nursing assistants, or MNAs for short, are important assistants to doctors and nurses in the hospital and extended care facilities. In addition to completing routine checks such as taking blood pressure and pulse, MNAs often aid in range of motion and other patient physical therapies. They may treat minor conditions like abrasions and contusions. Being a medical nursing assistant is a rewarding but sometimes strenuous job. Many MNAs are the first to have contact with patients’ family members and must keep their supervising nurses informed of patients’ progress and well-being. MNAs serve a very important role in healthcare today.