Research suggests that readers learn about word meanings from the various contexts of words in texts. Therefore, context clue instruction is often recommended as a way of boosting students' word learning skills. Ideally, such instruction should focus on context clue types that are common in authentic texts. We examined the prevalence of context clue types in authentic texts for Danish 3rd and 4th graders, focusing on contexts surrounding so-called Tier 2 words. A classification system with eight specific clue types was developed with inspiration from prior research, and the contexts of a sample of 150 words were analysed. We found that clues to target word meanings were present in the majority (63 pct.) of contexts. Among these helpful contexts, the most frequent clue types were "Example" and "Cause and effect." We discuss how word type and text type may have influenced the results, and the implications for instruction are highlighted.