Build Word Families
How to use: Download the PDF to print the worksheet. Then use this page to repeat activities and check answers.
Learning Objectives
- 1Define what a word family is and explain how words in a family are related
- 2Identify the root word shared by members of the same word family
- 3Match a root word to a related word-family member
Mini Lesson
A word family is a group of words that all share the same root word. They look similar and are related in meaning. Knowing one word in a family helps you understand all the others in that group.
Word Family Examples
- Root: play → player, playground, playful, playmate, replay
- Root: happy → unhappy, happiness, happily, happier
- Root: hope → hopeful, hopeless, hopefully, hoping
- Root: friend → friendly, friendship, friendless, unfriendly
How Word Families Help You Read
- If you know "help", you can work out "helpful", "helpless", and "helper".
- Spotting the root in an unfamiliar word gives you a clue to its meaning.
- Word families show how a single idea (the root) can be expressed in many ways.
When you learn a new root word, challenge yourself to think of at least three words in its family.
Guided Practice
Read the story. Can you spot the root words in each word family mentioned?
The Word Family Tree
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Cover
Exercises
Match each root word to a related word-family member.
Pick the best answer.
What is a word family?
Which word belongs to the same family as "play"?
What is the root word in "friendship"?
Which word is in the same family as "hope"?
How does knowing one word in a family help you?
Which pair of words are in the same word family?
What is the root word in "unhappy"?
Which word belongs to the "teach" family?
Word families are useful because they:
Which word is NOT in the "help" family?