Question

Troops quelled the unrest that occurred after the unpopular law went into effect. Use context clues to select the correct meaning of the underlined word.

Answer 1

"quelled" can also be synonymous with "crushed"

Since the action contains force, simply "muffling" alone isn't quite enough. In order to put an end to rebellion, and when "quelled" is involved, the most sense to this forceful action would be crushed.

^gradpoint^

Answer 2

I've had this problem before

quelled: means to be muffled or be subdued or silenced
and in this sentence it means that the troops silenced the uneasy rest that occurred after the unpopular law went into effect.