5th grade nonfiction reading comprehension worksheets

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Fifth graders work with passages that argue quietly: an author choosing facts to make a point. The questions ask what the text states, what it implies, and how the pieces support the main idea, with evidence expected for all three.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core RI.5.1.

Each click picks one of the 13 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.

Islands in the Sky

In the rain forests and grasslands of northern South America, giant blocks of rock rise straight up from the ground. Their sides are sheer cliffs, and their tops are almost flat, like enormous tables. These mountains are called tepuis (say it "teh-PWEES"). The name comes…

  1. What are the tops of tepuis like? almost flat, like a table · sharp and pointed, like a tower · round and smooth, like a dome · jagged, like the teeth of a saw

    Answer: almost flat, like a table

  2. In the passage, what is a plateau? a wide, raised stretch of flat land · a steep cliff made of loose rock · a deep valley carved by a river · a grain of sand pressed into rock

Each print picks one of the 13 passages written for this grade, and its questions come with it. With 13 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 5th grade sheet

5th grade sheets draw from 13 passages, 279 to 346 words long. 4th and 5th grade print from the same 13 passages. What changes is the standard (RI.5.1 here) and the teaching notes below.

Some of the titles: Counting Without Numbers, The Slow Invention of the Sandwich Loaf, The Great Molasses Flood, Wolves, Rivers, and Ripples, The Map That Fought Cholera, The Loudest Sound.

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

How to teach this

Treat the passage as a case the author is making. Ask what the author wants you to conclude and which facts carry that weight. Fifth graders who can separate the information from the framing are building the exact muscle middle school sources demand.

Watch for: The main idea is what the whole passage teaches, not the most exciting single fact. New words are usually explained nearby; the passage wants you to understand them.

Common questions about 5th grade nonfiction reading comprehension

What does main idea look like at 5th grade?
A one-sentence claim that every paragraph supports, stated in the student's own words. The tempting wrong answers are true details that are too small. Our mostly-about options are built on that exact trap, because state tests build theirs the same way.
How is this different from just knowing the topic?
A student can know all about octopuses and still misread a passage about them. These questions only count answers the text supports, which trains reading the source over recalling the subject, the core habit for research in the grades ahead.

Related worksheets

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Want a different passage? Print again. Each print picks one of the 13.

Aligned to Common Core RI.5.1. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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