Synonym Pairs: Match the Words That Mean the Same

Two columns of eight word cards face each other on this 2nd grade page, each card with a small clasp shape on its inner edge and a dot beside it. The child draws a line to link each word on the left with the word on the right that means the same. The left column on the sheet shown reads yummy, tumble, speak, scared, happy, weep, hushed and cluttered, and the right column, in a different order, reads cry, messy, fall, cheerful, quiet, delicious, frightened and talk.

Matching replaces the choice among four with a closed set: every word on the right is somebody's partner, so the child can work by elimination once a few pairs are secure. That builds confidence, and the page adds difficulty in the words themselves: hushed, cluttered and tumble are words second graders may not know yet, and matching them to quiet, messy and fall is how they learn them. The pairs are all close synonyms rather than near ones, and none of the right-hand words is a trap.

One sheet, sixteen words, eight lines. Encourage children to start with the pairs they are sure of and leave the hard ones for last, and to draw with a ruler so the page stays readable when lines cross. Several words also appear on the base page, quiet and hushed among them, so doing both in one week reinforces them. The synonyms for said face is a good next step, where the word has to fit a sentence.