命制的阅读理解试题中经常有要求考生对词语和句子作出解释的题目。两者都主要侧重于考查考生通过上下文去判断词义、句意的能力。词义题的考查有两种：一是超纲词含义的推断，另一个是熟词僻义或是在特定场合的意思。其命题模式如下：
1. What does the underlined word ＂...＂mean?
2. The underlined phrase (word, sentence) ＂...＂ most probably means ___________.
3. The phrase (word, sentence) suggests ___________.
4. From the passage, we can infer that the word ＂...＂ is ___________.
5. According to passage, what is ＂...＂?
6. When the author says that... he means ___________.