Shades of Meaning

English · Vocabulary · ages 5-9

Name ______________________ Date ____________

Which word is stronger: warm or scorching?
- warm
- scorching
- cool
Which word means walking in a proud, show-off way?
- strut
- march
- prance
Big and gigantic mean the exact same amount of size.
Circle one: True False
Order these by heat, weakest to strongest: hot, warm, scorching.
- warm, hot, scorching
- hot, scorching, warm
- scorching, warm, hot
Leo walked into class with his head high, like he owned the room. Which word fits best?
- marched
- crept
- strutted
Which is something at school you might call 'colourful'?
- a grey wall
- a bright art poster
- a plain white page
Which word is the odd one out: gigantic, huge, tiny?
- tiny
- gigantic
- huge
Ben says 'march' and 'prance' feel exactly the same. What is wrong with that?
- Nothing, they feel the same
- Prance means walking very slowly
- March is stiff and steady; prance is light and bouncy

Answer key

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

scorching · Scorching means very, very hot, stronger than warm.
strut · Strut means walking with a proud, showy step.
False · Gigantic is much bigger than big. The words are not equal.
warm, hot, scorching · Warm is mild, hot is stronger, and scorching is the strongest.
strutted · Strutted means walking proudly, which matches Leo's confident walk.
a bright art poster · A bright art poster has many colours, so 'colourful' fits it best.
tiny · Gigantic and huge both mean very big. Tiny means very small, so it does not belong.
March is stiff and steady; prance is light and bouncy · March feels stiff and steady, but prance feels light and bouncy. They are different feelings.