A cross-sectional study with Dutch first-language learners from grade 2, 4,
and 6 was conducted to investigate their ability to derive word meaning fr
om context. We used a multicomponential measure that involved the percentag
e of correct attributes, inclusion of a false attribute, and contextualizat
ion. Students' definitions were either wrong, fully correct, only partially
correct, or both wrong and (partially) correct at the same time. Students
experienced additional problems in formulating a word definition decontextu
alized from the original text. These findings suggest that the incremental
nature of vocabulary growth involves adding correct attributes, deleting fa
lse attributes, and decontextualizing students' word definitions. The abili
ty to derive word meaning from context. depended on grade and concreteness
of concepts.