The following table lists context-sensitive words, which are words that are reserved in the specified language construct when the specified dialect is chosen. If a context-sensitive word is used where a context-sensitive word is permitted in the general format, the word is treated as a keyword; otherwise, it is treated as a user-defined word. The dialect codes have the same meanings as in the section Reserved Words Table.
| Context-sensitive Word | Language Context or Construct | Dialect Code |
|---|---|---|
| ARITHMETIC | OPTIONS paragraph | I2 |
| ATTRIBUTE | SET statement | I2 |
| AUTO | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| BACKGROUND-COLOR | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| BACKGROUND-COLOUR | screen description entry | I2, MF3 |
| BELL | screen description entry and SET attribute statement | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| BLINK | screen description entry and SET attribute statement | I2, XO, MF3, RM, MS2 |
| CENTER | COLUMN clause | I2 |
| CYCLE | EXIT statement | I2, MF7 |
| DATA-POINTER | I2, MF15 | |
| EOL | ERASE phrase in screen description entry | I2, XO, MF7, RM |
| EOS | ERASE phrase in screen description entry | I2, XO, MF7, RM |
| ERASE | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, RM, MS2 |
| EXPANDS | CLASS phrase and INTERFACE phrase of the REPOSITORY paragraph | I2, MF12 |
| FOREGROUND-COLOR | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| FOREGROUND-COLOUR | screen description entry | I2, MF3 |
| FOREVER | RETRY phrase | I2 |
| FULL | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| HIGH | ACCEPT statement and DISPLAY statement | RM |
| HIGHLIGHT | screen description entry and SET attribute statement | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| IGNORING | READ statement | I2 |
| INITIALIZED | ALLOCATE statement | I2 |
| INTRINSIC | function-specifier of the REPOSITORY paragraph | I2 |
| LC_ALL | SET statement | I2 |
| LC_COLLATE | SET statement | I2 |
| LC_CTYPE | SET statement | I2 |
| LC_MESSAGES | SET statement | I2 |
| LC_MONETARY | SET statement | I2 |
| LC_NUMERIC | SET statement | I2 |
| LC_TIME | SET statement | I2 |
| LOW | ACCEPT statement and DISPLAY statement | RM |
| LOWLIGHT | screen description entry and SET attribute statement | I2, XO, MF7 |
| MANUAL | LOCK MODE clause | I2, MF1, MS2 |
| MULTIPLE | LOCK ON clause | all dialects |
| NONE | DEFAULT clause | I2 |
| NORMAL | STOP statement | I2 |
| NUMBERS | COLUMN clause and LINE clause | I2 |
| ONLY | Object-view, SHARING clause, SHARING phrase and USAGE clause | I2, MF11, BS |
| PARAGRAPH | EXIT statement | I2, MF7 |
| PREVIOUS | READ statement | I2, MF3 |
| RECURSIVE | PROGRAM-ID paragraph | I2, MF12, C370 |
| RELATION | VALIDATE-STATUS clause | I2 |
| REQUIRED | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| REVERSE | ACCEPT statement and DISPLAY statement | RM |
| REVERSE-VIDEO | screen description entry and SET attribute statement | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| SECONDS | RETRY phrase | I2 |
| SECURE | screen description entry | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| SIGNED | USAGE clause | I2, MF12 |
| STEP | OCCURS clause | I2 |
| STRONG | TYPEDEF clause | I2 |
| SYMBOL | CURRENCY clause | I2, MF12, OS390 |
| UCS-4 | ALPHABET clause | I2 |
| UNDERLINE | screen description entry and SET attribute statement | I2, XO, MF3, MS2 |
| UNSIGNED | USAGE clause | I2, MF12 |
| UTF-8 | ALPHABET clause | I2 |
| UTF-16 | ALPHABET clause | I2 |
| YYYYDDD | ACCEPT statement | all dialects |
| YYYYMMDD | ACCEPT statement | all dialects |