Why Building Vocabulary Matters (Especially for the 11+)

If you’re supporting a child preparing for the 11+, you’ve probably heard that ‘vocabulary is key’. What does that look like in everyday learning?

Why is vocabulary so important, and how can we support it?

A rich vocabulary isn’t just about test prep – it’s the foundation for lifelong learning.

How Much Vocabulary Is Enough for the 11+?

Research shows that children must understand at least 95% of the words in a text to grasp the meaning fully. For older children and technical texts, that figure may be even higher.
That’s why building vocabulary isn’t just helpful – it plays a vital role.

11+ Vocabulary and Comprehension

Vocabulary feeds directly into reading comprehension. Without it, children struggle to summarise confidently, infer, predict or question texts. They also find it hard to clarify meaning, activate prior knowledge or spot clues in context.

And don’t forget that many worded maths problems are unreadable without solid vocabulary.

How Can You Help at Home?

Make learning vocabulary natural, fun and deliberate. Try upgrading your usual language in everyday conversation.

‘I’ve told you many times to stop teasing your sister’ becomes:
‘I’ve repeatedly reminded you to cease provoking/taunting your sister.’

It might sound a bit clunky, but it builds word awareness and can be fun!

Surround harder words with familiar ones so your child can work out the meaning from context. Use synonyms and antonyms. Be playful, not pressurising.

And for tricky spellings like yacht, knight or subtle, make up silly phonetic tricks. It works.

Word Roots and Families

Understanding how words are built makes a real difference. If children know that mal means bad, they can work out malicious, malice and malevolent. If they know bene means well, they can decode benevolent or benefactor.

This method is called morphology – the study of word parts like prefixes, roots and suffixes – and it’s particularly useful for technical vocabulary, where meaning often depends on Greek or Latin origin.

Around one hundred common prefixes are found in over half of English words. Focus on high-frequency examples such as ‘un’ (not), ‘re’ (again or back) and ‘dis’ (none or not). These are the types of word parts your child will see repeatedly.

A child who knows that ‘un’ typically means ‘not’ can work out that unfair, unwell and unkind all mean the opposite of something good. Just one little piece of knowledge can unlock many words.

Homophones and Homographs for the 11+

Homophones –

sound the same but typically have different meanings and spellings, and they’re crucial in the 11+. Think – bare/bear, knot/not, their/there/they’re.

Homographs –

can be more confusing. They look the same but have different meanings and sometimes different pronunciations – like bow (to bend) and bow (ribbon), or desert (a place) and desert (to abandon). When the pronunciation also changes, they’re often called heteronyms.

Homophones –

often trip children up with spelling, while homographs can confuse meaning. It’s helpful to explore both in context, especially when a word has more than one possible use.

Dictionaries

Many children are advised to use a dictionary, which is fine, but definitions can be confusing, especially when a word like snipe has several meanings. Without a strong vocabulary, it can be hard to choose the right one, which often leads to more confusion.

That’s one reason I created the 11+ reading books The Cadwaladr Chronicles and The Cadwaladr Quests – Vocabulary Novels with a built-in dictionary on every page. The stories introduce rich vocabulary naturally, with synonyms, antonyms and parts of speech clearly flagged in context.

In the second edition, the 11+ Vocabulary Novels also include Knowledge Nuggets – short notes explaining literary devices, spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG) and inference-style comprehension points as they appear in the story.

You can explore the Cadwaladr series 11+ Vocabulary Novels here:
The Cadwaladr Chronicles
The Cadwaladr Quests