What makes the wrong choices tricky at this level?

Many are facts true of only one subject, dressed as answers about both. Catching those is the heart of the skill, and the answer key shows why each one fails.

Are these passages fiction or nonfiction?

Both. A story can compare two goalies as sharply as an article compares two elephants, and the same thinking reads both.

4th grade compare and contrast

4th grade compare and contrast worksheets

Fourth grade passages compare with more moving parts: two study styles, two bakeries, day fliers and night fliers. Your child sorts similarities from differences across whole paragraphs, and wrong answers include facts true of only one subject, which is exactly the trap the skill exists to catch.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core RI.4.5.

Each click picks one of the 23 passages written for this grade. Every sheet comes with its answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of passages you'll get

Read the passage. Then circle the letter of the best answer for each question.

Two Classrooms, One Hallway

Rooms 201 and 202 face each other across the fifth-grade hallway, and stepping from one to the other is like changing planets. Mr. Ito's room, 201, is so orderly it calms people down on the way to the principal's office. Desks in perfect rows. Supplies…

How are the two teachers connected? they are best friends whose ideas appear in each other's rooms · they are rivals who never speak and compete for students · they trade classrooms each week · they teach the same students at once
Answer: they are best friends whose ideas appear in each other's rooms
How does Mr. Ito's room differ from Ms. Rivera's? his follows a strict schedule while hers changes with the work · his room hums with motion · hers has desks in perfect rows, while his desks move around every day · his has a saltwater tank

Each print picks one of the 23 passages written for this grade, and its questions come with it. With 23 to pick from, a second print can land on one you've used, so check the title before you hand it out.

What's on a 4th grade sheet

4th grade sheets draw from 23 passages, 251 to 282 words long. All 13 of 3rd grade's passages are here too, plus 10 more.

Some of the titles: The Sun and the Moon, Dolphin and Shark: A Case of Mistaken Identity, Two Elephants, Moth or Butterfly?, Cheetah or Leopard?, The Planner and the Explorer.

Reading passage. Read the passage. Then circle the letter of the best answer for each question. One passage per sheet, with its own question set.

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

How to teach this

Teach the clue words as switches: both and also switch to alike, while, but, and unlike switch to different. Then hide the switches: reread a paragraph and ask your child to find a difference the author states without any clue word at all.

Watch for: Kids latch onto differences and skip what the two things share. The alike questions are usually the ones that need a second look at the passage. A fact about only ONE of the two things answers neither kind of question. If the passage says it about just the frog, it is not a both answer, no matter how true it is.

Common questions about 4th grade compare and contrast

What makes the wrong choices tricky at this level?: Many are facts true of only one subject, dressed as answers about both. Catching those is the heart of the skill, and the answer key shows why each one fails.
Are these passages fiction or nonfiction?: Both. A story can compare two goalies as sharply as an article compares two elephants, and the same thinking reads both.

Related worksheets

Ready to print one?

Want a different passage? Print again. Each print picks one of the 23.

Aligned to Common Core RI.4.5. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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