Words in the News

This Week's Word In The News 

COMMUNAL

DEFINITION:
Individuals who gather into social groups.

FOUND IN THE NEWS:
It has also proved especially deadly among some communal mammals, such as elephant seals and sea lions in South America, as well as caged fur-farmed animals in Europe.
►The Los Angeles Times, 04/15/2024

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. Spectrum

► The distribution of energy emitted by a radiant source, arranged in order of wavelengths.

► An ammunition belt, worn over the shoulder, having loops or pockets for cartridges.

► The act of reasoning from factual knowledge or evidence.

► An intricate structure of interconnecting passages through which it is difficult to find one’s way; a maze.

2. Outrageous

► One who rejects a religion, cause, allegiance, or group for another; a deserter.

► Grossly offensive to decency or morality.

► To take in by elaborate methods of deceit

► A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption.

3. Tundra

► A very large and destructive wave, generally caused by a tremendous disturbance in the ocean, such as an undersea earthquake or volcanic eruption.

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

► Strikingly unconventional and far-fetched in style or appearance; odd

► A treeless area between the icecap and the tree line of Arctic regions, having a permanently frozen subsoil and supporting low-growing vegetation

4. Technique

► To abstain from or act together in abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with as an expression of protest or disfavor or as a means of coercion

► The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

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

► The locus of points for which the sum of the distances from each point to two fixed points is equal

5. Tranquility

► To condescend to give or grant

► A proportional part or share.

► One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.

► The quality or state of being tranquil; serenity.

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.