Word Choice – ‘Referrer’ vs ‘Referral’ vs ‘Referer’

Afterward[s]: As someone with a background in British English who has studied and lived in the US over the past four years, I would say that "afterwards" is more commonly used in the British, while "afterward" is chiefly found in American usage. To confirm this, I sampled various dictionaries online, both American and British.

However, this does not always follow for words such as "forward[s]", "backward[s]", etc. I will deal with each case separately, treating them all as adverbs:

Forward[s]: The form "forwards" is rarely ever used in today's English, whether British or American. With or without the "s", the meaning remains unchanged.

Backward[s]: Again, "backward" is chiefly American, while "backwards" is certainly almost always used in the British. (As an adjective, though, "backward" is the correct usage, never with the "s".)

Toward[s]: The form "towards" is the British usage, while "toward" is the American.

Suffixation: Of course, the suffix "-ward[s]" can be tagged onto any word to indicate direction, as in "heavenward", "landward", and so on. As a general rule, it is strictly "-ward" in all adjectives, while adverbs could be "-ward" or "-wards," depending on the user.

And no, the "s" does not indicate plurality.

If I understand you correctly I think you want 'cues'. A 'cue' is a prompt. Context cues would I assume be peripheral ideas and text that one could call upon.

A 'clue' is something altogether different and is something detectives follow when investigating a crime. e.g. 'The only clue they had to work on were some fingerprints on the door handle'.