Primary 6 · English · Vocabulary & Word Meaning
Vocabulary & Word Meaning questions for Primary 6 English
12 questions to work through online, 4 of them written out the way the paper asks. Answer and you get the working straight away, then a score at the end. No sign-up, and you can retake it as often as you like.
- Connotation
- Words in context
- Figurative language
- Near-synonyms
- Word parts
- Idioms in context
- Formality
- Shades of meaning
- Writing the word
- Writing the opposite
Answers and explanations for all 12 questions
Every answer with the reasoning behind it. Worth reading after you have tried the set — or on its own, if you are a parent marking it.
Which word shows the writer thought the crowd was dangerous? The crowd ______ towards the gate as the announcement finished.
Answer: surged
Surged is a word for water. Using it of people gives the crowd a force nobody in it is controlling.
What does "reservations" mean here? The committee approved the plan, though several members expressed reservations about the cost.
Answer: doubts
The plan passed and the members still had misgivings. In this sentence reservations means doubts.
What does "the news travelled" mean? The news travelled through the school before the first bell.
Answer: It spread quickly from person to person.
News cannot travel literally. Giving it a verb of motion is a way of saying it spread from one person to the next.
Which word fits best? The two witnesses gave ______ accounts, so the officer knew one of them was mistaken.
Answer: conflicting
The officer's conclusion is the clue: only accounts that contradict each other force one to be wrong, and that is conflicting.
What does "irreversible" mean? The damage to the coral was found to be irreversible.
Answer: impossible to undo
Ir- means not, reverse means turn back, and -ible means can be — so irreversible is damage that cannot be turned back.
What does "the ball is in your court" mean? I have made my offer, so the ball is in your court.
Answer: It is now your turn to decide what happens.
In tennis the ball in your court is yours to play. The idiom means the next move belongs to you.
Which word suits a formal report? The committee ______ the proposal after three meetings.
Answer: endorsed
Endorsed is the formal word for giving something official support.
Which word fits best? Her explanation was ______ enough to satisfy the auditor, who asked no further questions.
Answer: thorough
An explanation that leaves nothing unanswered is thorough, and that is why no further questions followed.
Write one word for the blank. After the storm, the residents were ______ from the flooded block by boat.
Answer: evacuated
People moved out of danger by an organised effort are evacuated.
Write the opposite of the marked word. The evidence he gave was [relevant] to the case.
Answer: irrelevant
The opposite of relevant takes the prefix ir-, giving irrelevant.
Write one word for the blank. A statement that can be understood in two different ways is ______ .
Answer: ambiguous
A statement open to two readings is ambiguous.
Write one word for the blank. She apologised, but the damage to his ______ had already been done.
Answer: reputation
What other people believe about a person is their reputation, and it is the thing an apology arrives too late to mend.