Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

PLOY

DEFINITION:
A cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
“First of all, I think it’s important to recognize that the majority of the American people find this behavior deeply troubling,” said the 44th president, conceding that it does serve as an effective distraction and ploy for attention.
►The Boston Herald, 02/16/2026

Generate your own quiz
Select a grade level
 Elementary
 Middle School
 High School
Select a quiz type
 By words
 By Definitions
Select how many questions
5   10   15   20  

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. Divulge

► A state of uncertainty or perplexity.

► To proclaim publicly

► Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.

► Incorrectness of reasoning or belief

2. Silhouette

► A drawing consisting of the outline of something, especially a human profile, filled in with a solid color.

► An embankment built to prevent flooding

► To cringe in fear

► The systematic procedure by which a complex or scientific task is accomplished.

3. Salmonella

► A diffuse mass of interstellar dust or gas or both, visible as luminous patches or areas of darkness

► Any of several rod-shaped bacteria, of the genus Salmonella, that cause food poisoning and other diseases.

► To stress or emphasize; intensify

► A schedule of prices or fees.

4. Stereotype

► One that speaks for, represents, or advocates

► A weather phenomenon in the Eastern Pacific that is precisely equivalent to a hurricane.

► A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.

► An unstable, poisonous allotrope of oxygen.

5. Commemorate

► A cult or religious movement, a group sharing particular (often unorthodox) political and/or religious beliefs.

► Exceeding the limits of propriety or good manners; improperly forward or bold

► To honor the memory of with a ceremony

► A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace

Get more Quizzes 

 Elementary School    Middle School   High School  

 By Word     By Definition    5  10  15  20 Questions

Common Core State Standard
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.