Compound words worksheets
Compound words snap two words together to make a new one: sunflower, backpack, doorbell. Second graders build them from parts and pick the compound whose parts match the meaning, which turns vocabulary into a puzzle they can solve.
By grade
What students need to know
A compound word is two words joined into one new meaning: sun + flower = sunflower.
This skill runs from 1st grade through 3rd grade. Pick a grade above for level-matched sentences, teaching notes, and worksheets.
Compound words across the grades
1st grade
A compound word is two small words snapped together to make a new one: sun + set = sunset. First graders build them like blocks, reading each half and then the whole.
2nd grade
Compound words snap two words together to make a new one: sunflower, backpack, doorbell. Second graders build them from parts and pick the compound whose parts match the meaning, which turns vocabulary into a puzzle they can solve.
3rd grade
Third graders work with less obvious compounds (watershed, quarterback, landmark) and use the parts as meaning clues: if you know water and shed, you can reason toward what a watershed does. That parts-to-meaning habit is a genuine reading superpower.
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