You know the word issue. Then one sentence concerns a magazine, another concerns a problem, and a third describes a school giving out equipment. Knowing one familiar definition does not settle all three sentences.
This original practice set asks you to identify which meaning is active, show the clue that selects it, and rewrite the sentence without importing another meaning. It is a vocabulary workshop, not a Science test or an official examination paper. Secondary 1–2 is the intended starting audience; the tutor should adjust the number of items and amount of reading support.
The task has a narrow purpose. Do not try to learn every dictionary meaning of six words at once. Work out the meaning required by each supplied sentence and recognise when the information is insufficient.
A worked contrast: issue
Consider three fictional sentences:
The librarian placed the latest issue of the school magazine on the table.
The broken projector was the main issue delaying the presentation.
The office will issue each volunteer a numbered badge.
In the first sentence, issue means an edition of the magazine. The surrounding phrase identifies a publication. In the second, it means a problem requiring attention. The broken equipment and delay provide that context. In the third, it is a verb describing the distribution of something, here badges.
A useful response has three parts: the meaning here, the evidence, and a paraphrase. For the third example: “Issue means give out; each volunteer receives a badge; the office will give each volunteer a numbered badge.”
Notice what has not been claimed. A badge is not a magazine edition. The office is not necessarily solving a problem. Those are other meanings of the same written form, not facts about this sentence.
Practice A: identify the meaning in each sentence
For each pair, explain the highlighted word in ordinary English and underline the phrase that selects its meaning.
A1a. The caretaker will charge each team five dollars to hire a spare key.
A1b. Lina needs to charge her tablet before using it on the journey.
A2a. Please turn down the volume; the music is disturbing the discussion.
A2b. The Mathematics question asks for the volume of a rectangular container.
A3a. The pupils will conduct a survey about reading preferences.
A3b. The coach praised the team’s considerate conduct during the visit.
A4a. The reviewer wrote a critical account of the play, examining its weak dialogue and uneven pacing.
A4b. Checking the measurements is a critical stage of this construction project; a mistake here would affect everything that follows.
A5a. Use the current timetable rather than last year’s version.
A5b. A fallen branch drifted downstream in the strong current.
A6a. The technician will address the fault before the afternoon demonstration.
A6b. Write the delivery address clearly on the parcel.
Do not penalise a plain but accurate explanation because it does not sound like a dictionary. “Do the survey” can be an acceptable starting explanation for conduct in A3a. Ask for greater precision when the original meaning has been lost, not merely because a longer answer is possible.
Answer commentary
A1a: require payment. The amount of money and the hiring arrangement select the fee meaning. A1b: supply electrical energy to the tablet’s battery. The device and preparation for use select a different meaning. The second sentence does not say that Lina is paying a fee.
A2a: loudness. Turning it down changes how loud the music is. A2b: the amount of three-dimensional space the container occupies or encloses, as specified by the question. A full Mathematics solution would need the question’s dimensions and conventions. This vocabulary item only distinguishes the spatial meaning from loudness; it does not determine a numerical answer or whether internal capacity or external volume is intended.
A3a: carry out. The object is an activity, a survey. A3b: behaviour. Conduct is a noun naming how the team behaved. The shift is visible in the surrounding grammar. A student who notices only the word’s spelling has not yet resolved which job it is doing.
A4a: evaluative and fault-finding in this particular account. The sentence specifically identifies weaknesses. Do not turn that into a rule that every critical analysis must be negative. A4b: crucial or extremely important. The stated consequences of an error select importance, not criticism.
A5a: presently applicable. The contrast is with an old version. A5b: a flowing body of water or its movement. The branch moving downstream supplies the relevant context. An electrical meaning is possible elsewhere, but it is not active here.
A6a: deal with. The object is a fault that needs attention. A6b: the information identifying the delivery location. The parcel and the instruction to write it establish the sense. Neither item concerns giving a speech to an audience, another possible use of address.
Practice B: change the sentence, not only the definition
Write one sentence that makes each instruction true.
B1. Use issue to mean a publication edition, without using the word magazine.
B2. Use conduct as a verb for an organised activity.
B3. Use current to describe something applicable now, without mentioning a timetable.
B4. Use address to mean deal with a difficulty, without mentioning a technician.
Possible answers are: “The June issue of the journal contains three interviews”; “The students will conduct an interview with the librarian”; “The current rules allow teams of four”; and “The class meeting will address the problem of missing equipment.”
These are model answers, not the only permissible sentences. Check the active sense and the surrounding construction. “I bought an issue” is less informative because the missing context makes the intended meaning harder to establish. “I conduct my shoes” does not become acceptable simply because conduct is being used as a verb.
Practice C: sometimes the context is not enough
Read this sentence on its own:
The current issue is difficult to understand.
What does issue mean? It could refer to a present problem. It could also refer to the current edition of a publication. The sentence alone does not settle the choice.
A strong answer is: “There is not enough context. If the next sentence discusses unclear articles, issue probably means an edition. If it discusses a disagreement that needs solving, issue probably means a problem.”
Now add one sentence to remove the ambiguity in each direction. For the publication meaning: “Its articles use technical language unfamiliar to most readers.” For the problem meaning: “Nobody can agree on why the new registration system keeps losing entries.”
Do not reward confident guessing where the evidence permits alternatives. Asking for the preceding or following sentence is a useful reading action, not a failure to know the word.
A small paraphrase clinic
Original:
The committee will address the issue after reviewing the current report.
Faulty paraphrase:
The committee will write a location on the magazine after checking the river report.
The faulty version is deliberately absurd, but it makes the error visible: several available meanings have been substituted without preserving the sentence’s situation.
A more plausible paraphrase is: “The committee will deal with the problem after examining the latest applicable report.” Even here, a careful reader should check the surrounding paragraph. The original does not identify exactly which problem or report is meant, and current need not mean the newest report ever produced. “The report presently in use” may be more precise in a particular context.
Explain the order too: reviewing the report comes before addressing the issue. Vocabulary accuracy should not erase the relationship between the actions.
Return without the practised pairings
At a later session, explain the highlighted meanings in these new sentences, without displaying the previous answers:
R1. The school will issue replacement passes tomorrow.
R2. The current captain will lead the team until the end of the term.
R3. The club’s respectful conduct impressed the hosts.
R4. The next meeting will address the lack of storage space.
R5. The cinema will charge less for the morning screening.
R6. The final equipment check is critical because the demonstration cannot proceed safely without it.
Suggested explanations are give out, presently serving, behaviour, deal with, require payment, and essential or crucial. Ask for a supporting phrase in each case. Record when the learner needed the original paired example to answer; do not count a prompted answer as independent recall.
Decide what to repair
When the learner gives the same definition for both members of a pair, compare the objects and surrounding phrases. When the sense is correct but the paraphrase changes the order or actor, use an English sentence or comprehension route. When an invented sentence remains ambiguous, ask the learner to supply a detail that rules out the unintended sense.
Keep a record of the word, the original response, the distinguishing clue, the revised sentence and the support used. This is a record of task performance, not a standardised vocabulary-size measure. A successful pair does not certify all meanings of the word.
Return to the established estate
Continue through the Secondary 1 vocabulary owner or Secondary 2 vocabulary owner. Use Meaning and Precision for wider contrast work, or Secondary English Tuition when guided reading and writing support is the next need.
The useful question is not only “Do I know this word?” It is “Which meaning does this sentence permit, and what would prove my choice wrong?”