Educators, please click here to request a desk copy.

Key Features

The Words-in-Context Approach. Students learn new words by encountering them in meaningful contexts, not through rote memorization. Our books provide at least six different contexts for each vocabulary word!

Abundant Practice. Each book is packed with activities, exercises, unit reviews, and tests that prompt students to interact closely with each new vocabulary word. The result: students' word banks grow.

Appealing Content. Dull materials discourage learning. Our books avoid that. Each features high-interest passages students will want to read.

Relevant Words.  Words from the series were drawn from word frequency lists with alignment to state standards and high-stakes tests. The aim: to equip students with the words they need to know.

Affordability. This print vocabulary book teaches 240 key words and is priced at $12.90. Bundles of the print book + Vocabulary Plus are value-priced at just $17.90 each.

Outstanding Supplements. Free supplements include:

• Placement Test. The TP Vocabulary Placement Test is made up of 100 multiple-choice items drawn from Townsend Press vocabulary books. A student's score on this test may be used to determine which TP vocabulary book would be most beneficial to that student. Free and available online or in print. 
• Instructor's Edition. Instructor's Editions for all of the vocabulary books are available to teachers with a class adoption of 20 or more books. They are identical to the student books except that they contain answers to all of the activities and tests.
• Instructor's Manual and Test Bank. Available as a PDF for each Vocabulary Series book, the Instructor's Manual and Test Bank contains the Vocabulary Placement Test as well as a pretest and a posttest for the book and for each of its units. It also contains teaching guidelines, suggested syllabi, answer keys, and an additional mastery test for each chapter and unit. Free to educators with an approved account in the Learning Center.
• The Learning Center. Free to educators with an approved account, the Learning Center is a digital learning environment that provides resources to accompany the Vocabulary Series. It includes PowerPoints, assessments, and much more!

Digital Options. This textbook can be bundled with Vocabulary Plus, a powerful online vocabulary-building program that brings ALL the content of our famously clear, user friendly, Vocabulary Series directly to your tablet, smartphone, or computer. Download a complete brochure to learn more, or visit our Learning Center.

*Note: Students must have a paid subscription to access Vocabulary Plus materials. Click here to learn more about subscription options, including discounted digital/textbook bundles.

Changes in this Edition:

Hundreds of new items: The latest edition vocabulary titles feature brand new sentence items, revised/updated context clues, and in many cases, entirely new passages.

Photos added to chapter readings: Final Check activities in this and all new edition vocabulary texts now feature full color images to add context and interest for visual learners.

Updated digital content: All new and revised items in our printed books have also been released in Vocabulary Plus, our web-based digital vocabulary building program.

Broader, more universal appeal: TP's Vocabulary Series was originally developed for college students in the early 1990's. Updated regularly, the series remains popular in colleges today but is also used in adult literacy centers, and increasingly, in middle and high schools. Recognizing this broadening audience, our editors have carefully calibrated each book in this revision cycle to feature content and situations suited to readers of all ages. This impulse has led to changes in each activity, chapter, test, and unit review for all nine books—making the series better than ever!
 

Re-sequenced items: This and all new edition vocabulary titles have had test and practice answers shuffled and re-sequenced. This effort invalidates answers posted online and discourages cheating. Answers in Vocabluary Plus have also been updated (and feature their own shuffle capability).

Download a complete brochure or visit our Learning Center to explore Vocabulary Plus Independent Study for your classes.

Word List

ability
accuse
achieve
admire
admit
advance
advice
agreement
alarm
allow
amazed
appear
approach
arrange
assist
attack
attempt
attract
available
avoid
aware
benefit
bold
cancel
capable
careless
cautious
claim
collapse
comfortable
comment
common
compete
competent
conceal
conclusion
condemn
condition
confident
confusion
consider
constant
contain
continue
contribute
courteous
create
curious
daily
damage
damp
decrease
defeat
defect
defend
definite
delay
delicate
depend
detail
develop
devour
disaster
discover
disgust
dismiss
distant
distract
distressed
donate
dull
duty
effective
effort
embarrassed
embrace
emerge
emphasize
encourage
enemy
enormous
entertain
envy
event
examine
excess
excuse
exhaust
expect
experience
experiment
expert
explore
express
fact
failure
familiar
fascinate
flaw
flexible
fortunate
furious
generous
glance
glare
gradual
grasp
gratitude
grief
guarantee
helpless
hollow
hopeless
humble
humor
ideal
identify
ignore
imagine
imitate
impossible
incident
include
increase
injury
insist
inspect
inspire
insulting
intend
intense
interrupt
intimate
introduce
involve
irritate
isolate
labor
leisure
locate
logical
loyal
major
mention
minor
modern
modest
motivated
necessary
negative
normal
notice
numerous
observe
occasion
occupy
odor
opinion
opportunity
oppose
original
panic
perform
permanent
permit
persist
personal
persuade
pleasant
popular
portion
positive
praise
precious
predict
prepare
pretend
prevent
previous
produce
progress
protect
provide
public
purpose
quarrel
reaction
realize
recognize
refer
refuse
regret
relieved
request
require
resist
resolve
respect
reveal
reverse
rival
sample
satisfy
scarce
seldom
select
sensitive
separate
similar
sincere
sociable
solution
specific
struggle
stubborn
succeed
sufficient
suggest
support
suppose
surround
survive
suspect
talent
tempt
tension
timid
tolerate
tradition
tremendous
uncertain
unite
unusual
urge
vacant
value
victim
volunteer
weary
wonder

Supplementary Materials

Vocabulary Basics includes the following supplements:

Placement Test. The TP Vocabulary Placement Test is made up of 100 multiple-choice items drawn from Townsend Press vocabulary books. A student's score on this test may be used to determine which TP vocabulary book would be most beneficial to that student. Free and available online or in print.



 

An Instructor's Edition. Instructor's Editions for all of the vocabulary books are available by request to teachers with a class adoption of 20 or more students. They are identical to the student books except that they contain answers to all of the activities and tests.


 

A combined Instructor's Manual and Test Bank. Available as a PDF for each Vocabulary Series book, the Instructor's Manual and Test Bank contains the Vocabulary Placement Test as well as a pretest and a posttest for the book and for each of its units. It also contains teaching guidelines, suggested syllabi, answer keys, and an additional mastery test for each chapter and unit. Free to educators with an approved account in the Learning Center.
 

The Learning Center. Free to educators with an approved account, the Learning Center is a digital learning environment that provides resources to accompany the Vocabulary Series. It includes PowerPoints, assessments, and much more! Along with these free materials, the Learning Center also hosts Vocabulary Plus, a comprehensive subscription-based word-building program that brings all the content of our vocabulary text to students' fingertips. Learn more here.
 

Print supplements can be obtained quickly by calling Townsend Press toll-free at (800) 772-6410, by sending a fax on school letterhead to 1-800-225-8894, or by e-mailing Customer Service at cs@townsendpress.com.

Sample Chapters

To see the "To the Instructor" chapter of Vocabulary Basics, 3/e, click here. (Coming Soon)

To see the "To the Student" chapter of Vocabulary Basics, 3/e, click here. (Coming Soon)

To see Chapter 1 of Vocabulary Basics, 3/e, click here. (Coming Soon)