Antonyms and synonyms

English · Vocabulary · ages 9-11

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Which word is an antonym for 'hot'?
- warm
- cold
- boiling
Which word is a synonym for 'happy'?
- joyful
- angry
- tired
True or false: synonyms are words that mean the opposite of each other.
Circle one: True False
Zara is writing about a shy character who speaks very softly. She looks up 'said' in a thesaurus. Which word fits best?
- shouted
- whispered
- announced
Which word best replaces 'ran' to show the runner moved very fast?
- walked
- sprinted
- strolled
Glad, happy, and ecstatic are all synonyms. Which one shows the strongest feeling?
- glad
- happy
- ecstatic
Which swap changes 'She walked into the room' from a calm tone to an urgent one?
- Swap 'walked' for 'strolled'
- Swap 'walked' for 'marched'
- Swap 'walked' for 'entered'
Leo's story uses 'big' three times. To fix the repeats, he swaps one 'big' for 'tiny.' What went wrong?
- Tiny is an antonym of big, so the sentence now means something different
- Tiny has too many letters to fit the sentence
- Tiny is not a describing word

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

cold · Cold means the opposite of hot. Warm and boiling are both close to hot, not opposite.
joyful · Joyful means almost the same thing as happy, so it's a synonym.
False · That's what antonyms do. Synonyms mean almost the same thing.
whispered · Whispered matches a soft, shy way of speaking. Shouted and announced are too loud and bold.
sprinted · Sprinted is a synonym for ran that adds the meaning of great speed.
ecstatic · All three are synonyms for feeling good, but ecstatic describes the most intense version.
Swap 'walked' for 'marched' · Marched suggests speed and purpose, giving the sentence a more urgent feeling. Strolled is even calmer, and entered is neutral.
Tiny is an antonym of big, so the sentence now means something different · Leo needed a synonym like enormous to keep the meaning and fix the repetition. Tiny is an antonym, so it flipped the meaning instead.