Turn your budding linguists into walking thesauruses. 

This interactive synonym-matching activity builds vocabulary skills and solidifies your students’ understanding of the meanings of words. By reading each sentence for context clues, your students can identify which similar word from the list at the bottom of the worksheet to swap for the underlined word in the sentence. 

How to Use (Apply, Implement, Employ) This Synonyms Worksheet with your Students

This synonym worksheet could be used as a reading group activity since it involves cutting and pasting. It has been designed for independent practice but can also be done with assigned partners. 

Before matching, students will cut out the words at the bottom of the page. Then, they will read each sentence to themselves, select the synonym that best matches the underlined word in each sentence, and glue it on the blank line next to the phrase. 

Scaffold and Extend Your Synonyms Activities

Synonyms require students to access their critical thinking skills by looking for the subtleties in word meanings. 

For students grasping synonyms at a faster rate, remove the answer choices so that they are challenged to come up with the answer on their own.

Students who are struggling to understand the concept might find additional support in a small group structure where they’ll benefit from extra attention. The answers can also stay attached for the student to draw arrows instead of cutting and pasting.

Preparing This Resource for Your Students

Because this download includes the answer sheet, we recommend printing one copy of the entire file first. Then, make photocopies of the blank worksheets for students to fill out on their own. 

Use the drop-down menu to choose between the PDF or Google Slides version. An answer key is included in the download.

This resource was created by Kelli Goffredi, a Teach Starter Collaborator.