Question

vase paintings show boys sitting on stools holding wood-backed wax writing tablets. they wrote on the wax with a stylus, a sort of bone or metal pencil pointed at one end and flattened out in a leaf shape at the other. –the ancient city, peter connolly and hazel dodge read the passage, then use the drop-down menus to complete the sentences. a stylus is a bone or metal pencil. a(n) clue shows the meaning of the word (dropdown options: definition, example, synonym, antonym).

Explanation:

The passage describes what a stylus is (a bone or metal pencil - like tool with specific shapes), which is a definition of the word "stylus". An example would be a specific instance, a synonym is a similar - meaning word, and an antonym is an opposite - meaning word. Since the text is explaining what a stylus is, it's a definition clue.

Answer:

definition