How to Solve Word Choice Questions on the ACT® English
Read time: 2 minutes Last updated: September 23rd, 2024
Word choice questions are the way the ACT® English test asks about vocabulary. It's always vocab in context. Even if you don't know the vocab word, you can still use Process of Elimination to increase the likelihood you answer the question correctly.
Let's look at an example to see how this works:
Practice question:
I'm only asking for a minute amount of money for allowance.
- A) No change
- B) Hour
- C) Second
- D) Loud
Click for the Answer
Correct Answer: A. No change
Explanation:
Looking at the answer choices in context, how can you have a time "minute" amount of money? You can't – but maybe this word also means something else. I'm not sure, but the possibility exists. So let's leave that answer choice be for now.
You can't have an hour amount of money, nor a second amount of money, nor a loud amount of money. None of those are correct because there's no other possible meaning of those words that would make sense.
We return to the word "minute." Even if we don't know what the other meaning of the word "minute" is, we know there is one. Since the other 3 answer choices are definitely wrong, we can choose "no change."
Maybe you knew from the beginning of this example that minute also means extremely small (in which case it is pronounced "my noot"). If you knew this, great job! You're ahead of the game.
When the ACT® asks word choice questions, the right answer is usually a word that has more than one meaning. If you don't know the other meaning of the word, you usually do know that there is another meaning to the word.
But what most students do on the test – you shouldn't do this – is chose a word they know is wrong because they at least know what the word means. You can use process of elimination like this to help you get these questions correct in context.
Should you study vocabulary? Absolutely, but not just for boosting your ACT® score. In most cases, you'll get more bang for your buck by focusing on test-taking strategies rather than memorizing vocab lists.