When young readers encounter texts that contain too many unfamiliar words, their comprehension suffers. Reading becomes slow, laborious, and frustrating, impeding their learning. That's why vocabulary knowledge is a key element in reading comprehension. To comprehend fully and learn well, all students need regular vocabulary exploration. Unfortunately, the term "exploration" does not accurately describe most traditional word study in schools. This article discusses five common misconceptions that often stand in the way of effective vocabulary instruction: (1) Definitions do the trick; (2) Weekly vocabulary lists are effective; (3) Teachers should teach all hard words, especially those printed in bold or italics; (4) The study of Latin and Greek roots is too hard for young learners; and (5) Word learning can't be fun. (Contains 1 figure and 4 online resources.)