2nd grade synonyms worksheets
Synonyms are words with nearly the same meaning: happy and glad, fast and quick, small and little. Second graders match everyday pairs: every new synonym is a second way to say something they already know.
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The kind of sentences you'll get
Circle the letter of the word that means almost the same.
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Another word for shut is .
sing · open · close
Answer: close
- Grandma cooks supper on Sundays, and her always smells amazing. dinner · breakfast · pillow
- Rana is a fast runner, and her brother is too. green · slow · quick
Every print pulls a fresh set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling never gets the same sheet.
What's on each sheet
- Choose the word. Circle the letter of the word that means almost the same. 8 questions per page.
Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.
How to teach this
The swap test does the teaching: read the sentence with each choice and ask whether the meaning stays the same. "The glad puppy" works where "the angry puppy" changes the story. Keep pairs concrete and familiar; the goal is the idea of synonyms, not rare vocabulary.
Watch for: Synonyms mean almost the same, not exactly the same. Big and gigantic are both large, but gigantic is bigger. A word about the same topic isn't a synonym: orange isn't a synonym for pumpkin just because pumpkins are orange.
Common questions about synonyms
- What is a synonym in kid terms?
- A word twin: two words that mean almost the same thing. Happy and glad, fast and quick, little and small. If you can swap one for the other and the sentence still means the same, they're synonyms.
- Why learn synonyms at all?
- Every synonym doubles a child's ways to understand and say something. A reader who knows quick can figure out speedy; a writer stuck on nice can reach for kind or friendly. It's vocabulary growth with a built-in use.
Related worksheets
- 3rd grade synonyms A step harder, same skill
- 4th grade synonyms A step harder, same skill
- 2nd grade antonyms Same grade, nearby skill
- 2nd grade compound words Same grade, nearby skill
- 2nd grade homophones Same grade, nearby skill
- Synonyms, all grades The full progression
- All 2nd grade English worksheets Every skill at this level
- All 2nd grade worksheets Everything at this level
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Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 137, updated August 2026.
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