5th grade complex sentences worksheets

Fifth grade complex sentences worksheets bring in relative clauses (the runner who finished last) and the phrase-opener trap (After lunch, we read is still simple). Labeling at this level is the doorway to the clause work sixth grade expects.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.3.1.i.

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The kind of sentences you'll get

Read each sentence. Circle the letter of the label that fits.

  1. “The ferry rocked hard, but nobody spilled their coffee.” This sentence is: . simple · complex · compound

    Answer: compound

  2. “Beyond the breakwater, the water finally calmed.” This sentence is: . compound · simple · complex
  3. “The museum closed early, and the guards went home.” This sentence is: . simple · compound · complex

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

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

How to teach this

Two refinements this year. First, relative clauses: who finished last is a leaning part hiding mid-sentence. Second, the opener trap: After lunch has no verb, so it is a phrase, and the sentence stays simple. Kids who can argue those two cases own this skill.

Watch for: Kids treat because, when, and although as decoration. Those words are the signal: whatever they start cannot stand alone anymore. An opener like After lunch looks like a clause but has no who-did-what. A phrase opener keeps a sentence simple; a clause opener makes it complex.

Common questions about complex sentences

What is a relative clause, in kid terms?
A leaning part that starts with who, which, whose, or that and hides in the middle: the bread that Grandma bakes. It cannot stand alone, so the sentence is complex.
Why is After lunch, we read simple and not complex?
After lunch has no who-did-what; it is a phrase, not a clause. A sentence only turns complex when the leaning part has its own subject and verb.

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Aligned to Common Core L.3.1.i. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 178, updated August 2026.

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