Find Synonyms of Words in a Text

Using interesting vocabulary (words) adds detail to stories and helps the reader imagine what is going on.

Sometimes, when we are reading, we come across unfamiliar words.

To help us understand the meaning of these words, we can use the rest of the sentence as a clue.

Example:

The famous footballer earns a colossal amount of money.

We may not be familiar with the word colossal, but clues in the rest of the sentence tell us that colossal means big.

Famous people tend to earn a lot of money, so the word famous is a clue in this sentence.

Big is a synonym of colossal. This means they mean the same thing.

Synonyms are words with the same or very similar meanings.

Read the text below.

In this activity, you will be asked questions about the meaning of words in this text.

Spirit of the Sea

After a five-hour car journey stuck in endless queues on the motorway, the Mitchell-Jones family finally arrived at Spirit of the Sea Campsite. “I know the journey took three hours longer than we thought but we’re here now and it will all be worth it,” Jane said trying to raise everyone’s spirits.

“Let’s all stretch our legs for a few minutes before putting up the tent. It isn’t long until sunset,” Dev suggested.

As soon as the family heaved the tent out of the car, it started to rain. “Quick, let’s assemble this luminous orange beast before we get soaked. You won’t lose us with this tent!” Jane shouted.

“I’ll wait in the car until it’s up,” whined Freya.

“Not so fast Freya!” Her dad swiftly locked the car before she could get to the door handle. “If you help us, it will be ready sooner.”

Within minutes, the rain evolved into a downpour and the gentle sea breeze became angry, gusty gales. Freya’s stepbrother, Elliot, had to use all of his might to hold the tent up whilst his stepdad hammered the tent pegs into the ground. When Elliot let go of his side of the tent, the water sprayed all over Freya’s face. She was already soaked and now she looked like she’d just got out of an ice bath. “Elliot! I’m getting you back for that!” she angrily screamed and pinged her side of the tent so that water sprayed on her stepbrother’s face.

“That’s enough you two. Grab the last two tent pegs and put them in.” Jane ordered sternly.

Jane and Dev stood with their hands on their hips and looked proudly at their sturdy creation. “All four of us are meant to sleep in that?” Freya complained whilst pointing at the tent like it was a piece of dirt on her shoe.

At that moment, the sun powerfully broke through the grey rain clouds. They could all see the sea beyond their bright orange tent. It looked crystal clear. Maybe this would be a fantastic holiday after all.