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3rd Grade Linking Verbs Worksheets

Linking verbs work like an equals sign: the pond was calm means pond = calm. Third graders spot the full set, including the sneaky sense verbs (looks, feels, tastes) and change-verbs (became, grew, turned), and they start telling linking uses apart from action uses.

Free printable PDF. One skill per page, answer key on page two.

Every sheet is one of a kind and prints with a version code, so you can reprint the exact same one later. New version every click.

A sample 3rd grade sheet. Yours will have different sentences. Click it to print your own.

The kind of sentences you'll get

Underline the linking verb in each sentence.

  1. The debate grew lively during the final round.

    Answer: grew

  2. The gymnasts seemed fearless on the high beam.
  3. The library was quiet in the early morning.

Every print draws a fresh mix of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different sheet.

What's on each sheet

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

How to teach this

The productive test at this level is substitution: if you can swap the verb for is or was and the sentence still makes sense, it's linking. "The roses smell sweet" survives the swap (the roses are sweet); "She smells the roses" doesn't. That single test carries students through every sense-verb ambiguity they'll meet.

Watch for: Linking verbs show no action; they work like an equals sign between the subject and its description. The sense verbs moonlight: in 'She smells the roses' smells is an action, but in 'The roses smell sweet' it links.

Common questions about linking verbs

Why is "smells" linking in one sentence and action in another?
Because the sense verbs do two jobs. "The bread smells fresh" links bread to fresh; "The baker smells the bread" is an action the baker performs. The is-swap test tells them apart: the first survives ("the bread is fresh"), the second turns to nonsense.
Which linking verbs should a 3rd grader know?
The be-family (is, are, was, were), the sense verbs (looks, feels, tastes, smells, sounds), and the change verbs (became, grew, turned, stays). That's the complete working set for elementary grammar, and our sentences rotate through all of them.

Related worksheets

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Reviewed by the One More Sheet curriculum team. Content version 68, updated July 2026.