ACT: Multiple-Meaning Words: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 4

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.
12 words 463 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. provide
    give something useful or necessary to
  2. decline
    grow worse
  3. tender
    easy to cut or chew
  4. trade
    the commercial exchange of goods and services
  5. absorb
    take in a liquid
  6. shine
    emit light; be bright, as of the sun or a light
  7. critical
    of a serious examination and judgment of something
  8. withdraw
    pull back or move away or backward
  9. passage
    the act of moving from one state or place to the next
  10. substantial
    real; having a material or factual existence
  11. issue
    some situation or event that is thought about
  12. difference
    the quality of being unlike or dissimilar
Created on Fri Jun 06 11:52:05 EDT 2025

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