3rd Grade Vocabulary Worksheets

Related ELA Standard: L.3.6

Core Standard
Answer Keys Here

3rd grade is where a great mixture of things is going on that allow us to hyper accelerate the amount of new things that we teach children. In the 3rd grade the average students is between 8 and 9 years of age. This is a time in their lives where biological their brains are developing to allow them to think at higher levels and begin to solve problems. It is also a time where they can simply remember more information than they ever have before. This is a substantial change in their lives biologically which translates into being able to do more complex work. They can read longer words and remember them. It is also a time where they make huge strides in reading endurance compared to just a year ago. The worksheets below will help students learn 3rd grade level appropriate vocabulary words and help them get a concrete understanding of their use in the English language.

3rd Grade Vocabulary Worksheets To Print:

Missing Parts - Complete each sentence using the grade appropriate words located in the box.

Vocab Math - Match the terms with the proper definition for each of the exercises.

Word Up - Circle the word that best fits the description that is provided.

4th Grader - These are words that students should have down pat by mid-year.

Need a Thesauraus? - You will be determining synonyms for a series of different terms here.

Dog Days - These are terms that you might come across when taking your dog for a walk.

What's That? - Which term best sums up each sentence?

Blanks - There are parts missing in these sentences. Finish them up.

Paragraph Writing - You will compose a paragraph while using new vocabulary words.

Same and Opposite - You will write similar and complete opposite terms to what you are presented with.

Too Many - Make sure to remind students that not all the words will be used.

Look Ups - This is helpful for dictionary skills.

Empty - Fill up all of these sentences with a good helping of new terms that you have learned.

The Same - Think of words that have similar meanings to these new terms.

Sentence Writing - Use these new terms in a sentence that you write.

3rd Grade Vocabulary Words That Give Students Trouble


When students begin tackling 3rd grade level vocabulary there is a massive uptick in what is expected of them compared to the difference grade level transitions. The problem basically stems from the fact that they have a good collection of vocabulary words that they are familiar with, and they can confuse with many of the new words that often have a sense of overall either with word parts or definitions.


To help teachers better understand how to approach teaching vocabulary to 3rd grade students we got all of our writers together that had 4 or more years’ experience teaching this grade level. We discussed and debated what key areas give students the most trouble and how to avoid causing student confusion. Here are the most common problems that we find collectively occur at this grade level:


Confusion with Suffixes and Prefixes - There are many words that are commonly found at this level that share suffixes or prefixes and this can lead to a great deal of student confusion. A basic example that several of our teachers brought up were the words (active and actual). Two terms that have vastly different meanings but share the same prefix (act-). You will find time and time again students will confuse these words because of this simple prefix. The best way to combat this is teach those words independently of others or start with those terms making certain to point out several times that they share this prefix. Many of our teachers that approached this way to teach those words cite a higher level of success than if they were clumped in with other words.


Weekly Vocabulary List - Students thrive on consistency. At the 3rd grade level students are just learning the concept of self-organization. The best way to help students adjust to these new systems is to issue weekly vocabulary lists those students receive everyday Friday and are responsible for a short quiz or assessment on the following Friday. Some teachers opt to give their students the weekend off and issue the lists on Monday morning. The majority of our active veteran agree that giving the students a few more days, is always better for the students as it gives them more time and an option to work at their own pace.


Each school district tends to adopt their own list of vocabulary words per grade level, but even our most advanced classes at the 3rd grade level consist of 200 words, with the average being somewhere around 120 words. This means in most cases students will need to learn roughly 7 new words a week which is perfectly manageable for students.


Stratify the Words of the Week Lists - When you create your words of the week lists give students a nice mix of easy, moderate, and difficult words. Don’t make it too easy or too hard. If it is your first time teaching this grade level, you may not have an understanding of which words will hold the greatest level of difficulty. Vocabulary words that students will have problems with often do not have an affix and are longer in length. Shorter words tend to be easier for students.