5th grade science reading comprehension worksheets

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Fifth grade science reading comprehension worksheets: a full-page passage on matter, gravity, the stars, food webs or Earth's water, with five questions. Many passages tell how a scientist tested an idea, and the questions ask what the test showed. Answer key included.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core RI.5.1, RI.5.10.

Each click picks one of the 14 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.

The Sugar That Vanished

Stir a spoonful of sugar into a glass of warm water. In a minute or two, the sugar seems to disappear. Yet take a sip, and the water tastes sweet. The sugar did not vanish. It broke apart into pieces far too small to see.…

  1. What is matter? anything that has weight and takes up space · anything far too small for the eye to see · anything that dissolves in a glass of warm water · anything that gives off a smell you can notice

    Answer: anything that has weight and takes up space

  2. What happens to sugar that is stirred into water? its particles spread all through the water · its particles are destroyed for good · it sinks and hides under the water particles · it turns into air and leaves the glass

Each print picks one of the 14 passages written for this grade, and its questions come with it. With 14 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 14 passages, 283 to 292 words long. 4th and 5th grade print from the same 14 passages. What changes is the standard (RI.5.1, RI.5.10 here) and the teaching notes below.

Some of the titles: Seeing in a Dark Room, The Clean-Up Crew, The Willow in the Pot, Weighing a Melting Ice Cube, Which Way Is Down?, A Star in the Daytime.

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

How to teach this

Fifth grade science reading is about how we know. Many passages tell how a scientist tested an idea, such as weighing a willow tree and its soil for five years. Ask your student what the experiment showed and what it did not. Then ask which sentence is the evidence and which is the conclusion. Telling those apart is the skill fifth grade science and reading share.

Watch for: Choosing the answer you already believed instead of the one the passage states. Science passages often correct an everyday idea, so check the line before you circle. Skipping a science word as too hard. The passage explains it nearby, and at least one question depends on it.

Common questions about 5th grade science reading comprehension

How long should a fifth grader spend on one sheet?
About fifteen minutes: one full read, then the questions with the passage open. If a question takes longer, it usually needs two sentences from different paragraphs. Have your student find both before choosing.
Why do the passages talk about experiments?
Fifth grade science asks students to explain how we know something, not just what is true. A passage about an experiment lets the questions ask what was tested, what it showed and what it did not.

Related worksheets

Ready to print one?

Want a different passage? Print again. Each print picks one of the 14.

Aligned to Common Core RI.5.1, RI.5.10. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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