Unlike other vocabulary books, Vocabulary Plus High School and Up: A Source-Based Approach gives good advice about teaching vocabulary and provides ways to teach specific words by presenting sound theory combined with workable teaching materials.

Grounded on the Nilsens' source-based approach, students and teachers are led through explorations of how, over the centuries, words have been enlarged and given additional meanings both through lexical extensions and metaphorical processes. Capitalizing on the basic concept of a source-based approach that words have “natural” connections to each other, the Nilsens provide ample applications to demonstrate how these words can be taught through what are called gestalts, webs or ladders.

The abundance of materials provide students with ample practice in using contextual clues, not so much to figure out a meaning as to exclude the meanings of a word that are inappropriate. Each chapter includes “Workshop” pages ready for photocopying, along with suggestions for many other activities that will engage students' interest long enough that their minds will have time to absorb the meanings. An answer key is provided for each of the exercises.