LS.CCS.4/5/6 Grades 3-12: Students are asked to determine the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words through multiple choice vocabulary quizzes. Quizzes are designed to help students demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships and nuances in words, acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words, and gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. Students are then asked to find the words within the newspaper and copy the sentence for context to its overall meaning or function in a sentence.
Words in the News Quiz
5 Middle School Words
Click on the correct answer in the quiz below.
Then see if you can find the word in your newspaper -- the print edition, the website or the digital edition and copy the sentence for context. NOTE: High School words are much harder to find!
1. Deign
► The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.
► The systematic procedure by which a complex or scientific task is accomplished.
► A person with masterly skill or technique in the arts.
► To condescend to give or grant
2. Introspection
► Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.
► Using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise.
► The right or privilege of voting; franchise.
3. Inference
► One that speaks for, represents, or advocates
► A grotesque ornamental figure or projection.
► An unstable, poisonous allotrope of oxygen.
► The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.
4. Parasite
► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.
► One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.
► Having or demonstrating enthusiasm
► A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.
5. Zoology
► A metric unit of length equal to 1,000 meters (0.62 mile).
► Loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline
©2026 Boston Herald in Education and Online Publications Inc. and NIEonline.com
