2nd grade vocabulary worksheets

A real sample sheet.

13 vocabulary skills at 2nd grade, one sheet each, free with its answer key: antonyms, compound words, context clues, and more.

Most sheets change with every click. Any other skill prints from its row below. Examples and teaching notes

Word relationships

  • Antonyms Antonyms are opposites: hot and cold, up and down, open and closed.
  • Compound words A compound word is two words joined into one new meaning: sun + flower = sunflower.
  • Dictionary guide words Guide words are the first and last words on a dictionary page. A word lives on that page only if it fits between them alphabetically.
  • Homophones Homophones are words that sound exactly alike but are spelled differently and mean different things: sea and see, bear and bare. The sentence tells you which one belongs.
  • Multiple-meaning words Some words carry more than one meaning: a bat flies at night, and a bat hits a baseball. The rest of the sentence tells you which meaning is on duty.
  • Picture compound words Name both pictures, then push the two words together. The word you get is the compound word.
  • Shades of meaning Words come in strengths. Glad is a birthday card; thrilled is fireworks. Sorting everyday words from their stronger cousins tunes your word volume knob.
  • Synonyms Synonyms are words that mean almost the same thing: happy and glad, big and large.
  • Word sorts (categories) Sorting words into groups, animals here, foods there, is thinking made visible. Every word belongs somewhere, and saying why is the real work.

Prefixes and suffixes

  • Prefixes A prefix is glued to the front of a word and changes its meaning: un- flips lock into unlock.
  • Root words and word building Words are built from parts. The root carries the meaning: play. Prefixes and suffixes snap on: re + play = replay, play + er = player.
  • Suffixes A suffix is glued to the end of a word and changes its job: care becomes careful, careless, or carefully.

Context clues

  • Context clues The sentence around a hard word usually hides its meaning. Read past the word, find the clue, then decide: The arid desert had not seen rain for months, so arid must mean very dry.

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More 2nd grade English: Grammar · Sentence structure · Capitalization · Punctuation · Spelling · Phonics · Reading comprehension · Handwriting · Writing

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