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 sneaky sense verbs (looks, feels, tastes) and change-verbs (became, grew, turned), and start telling linking uses apart from action uses.
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The kind of sentences you'll get
Underline the linking verb in each sentence.
-
The team seemed nervous before the game.
Answer: seemed
- Wei looked sleepy at breakfast.
- The owls become restless at dusk.
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
- Identify. Underline the linking verb in each sentence. 12 questions per page.
- Multiple choice. Circle the letter of the word that is the linking verb. 10 questions per page.
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
- 2nd grade linking verbs A step easier, same skill
- 4th grade linking verbs A step harder, same skill
- 3rd grade adverbs of how, when, and where Same grade, nearby skill
- 3rd grade articles (a, an, the) Same grade, nearby skill
- 3rd grade collective nouns Same grade, nearby skill
- Linking verbs, all grades The full progression
- All 3rd grade English worksheets Every skill at this level
- All 3rd 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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