My child wrote a word that is not in the bank but is still an opposite.

Good thinking, and worth saying so. Then point at the bank: the sheet asks for the word that is on it, so the key has one answer per line.

What comes after this?

The antonyms page from second grade, which drops the pictures and asks for the opposite inside a sentence.

1st grade opposites

1st grade opposites worksheets

Opposites are pairs of words that answer the same question from opposite ends, like heavy and light or loud and quiet. This sheet is the written form: eight picture pairs, the first word printed, a word bank at the top and a line for the opposite. Twenty-four pairs in the bank, eight per print.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.K.5.b.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of opposites you'll get

Look at both pictures. The first word is written for you. Find its opposite in the word bank and write it on the line.

narrow
out
old
small
slow
tall

Each print draws fresh pairs from the bank. The first picture's word is printed for you and the second has a line, so the opposite gets written out. The key gives both words.

Every print pulls a new set of pictures at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 1st grade sheet

1st grade sheets draw from 20 pairs of opposites, 8 to a page. Kindergarten and 1st grade print from the same 20 pairs of opposites. The teaching notes below are written for this grade.

Some of the words:

open and closedup and downday and nightover and undertall and shortheavy and lightfront and backpush and pullwide and narrowtop and bottom

Opposites. Look at both pictures. The first word is written for you. Find its opposite in the word bank and write it on the line. 8 pairs per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Push for the question behind the pair. Big and small is size; loud and quiet is sound; push and pull is direction. Naming it is what stops a child answering small for tall. When the sheet is done, cover the bank and ask for the eight opposites from the pictures alone.

Watch for: Answering with a different word rather than the opposite one. Small is not the opposite of tall; short is. Ask what question both pictures answer, then give the other end of it. Treating unlike as opposite. A cat is not the opposite of a dog. Opposites need one thing that changes, like size, heat or noise, with everything else the same. Short has two partners. It is the opposite of tall and of long, and a sheet never shows both, so read the first picture before writing.

Common questions about 1st grade opposites

My child wrote a word that is not in the bank but is still an opposite.: Good thinking, and worth saying so. Then point at the bank: the sheet asks for the word that is on it, so the key has one answer per line.
What comes after this?: The antonyms page from second grade, which drops the pictures and asks for the opposite inside a sentence.

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Aligned to Common Core L.K.5.b. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated September 2026.

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