The ACT Reading Test: Multiple-Meaning Words: List 5

On the ACT Reading Test, you'll encounter questions that ask you to determine the meanings of common words in context. We've identified 200 high-frequency, multiple-meaning words of the sort that you'll see on the exam. As you practice this list, you'll have to rely on context clues in order to determine each word’s meaning in a particular sentence. Be careful! Several of a word's meanings might show up as answer choices — but only one answer will capture the meaning of the word in the context of the sentence.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. dim
    lacking in light; not bright or harsh
  2. observe
    watch attentively
  3. sanction
    official permission or approval
  4. serious
    of great consequence
  5. suffer
    undergo or be subjected to
  6. channel
    a deep and relatively narrow body of water
  7. lapse
    drop to a lower level, as in one's morals or standards
  8. pitch
    the high or low quality of a sound
  9. fresh
    recently made, produced, or harvested
  10. split
    separate into parts or portions
  11. sight
    the ability to see; the visual faculty
  12. compose
    form the substance of
  13. exposure
    the state of being exposed to harm
  14. plane
    an unbounded two-dimensional shape
  15. complete
    having all necessary qualities
  16. claim
    assert or affirm strongly
  17. commission
    the act of granting authority to undertake certain functions
  18. involve
    contain as a part
  19. tone
    the distinctive property of a complex sound
  20. recognition
    identifying something or someone by remembering
  21. patch
    a small contrasting part of something
  22. subject
    some situation or event that is thought about
  23. command
    an authoritative direction or instruction to do something
  24. sensitive
    responsive to physical stimuli
  25. mount
    go up, advance, or increase
Created on Thu Dec 17 12:25:32 EST 2020 (updated Thu Dec 17 12:43:00 EST 2020)

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