Antonyms and Synonyms – word lists, activities, and worksheets

Antonyms list in developmental order:

Basic – all/none;  big/little;  day/night;  fake/real; up/down;  near/ far;   loud/ quiet;  best/worst;  give/ take;  in/ out;   stop/ go;   fast/ slow;   wet/dry;   up/down;  good/bad;   hot/ cold;   give/ take;   pull/ push;   young/old

Elementary – add/subtract;  answer/question;  beginning/end;  create/destroy;  more/ less;  first/ last;  real/ make-believe;  left/ right;  easy/difficult;  remember/forget;  question/ answer;  hello/ goodbye;  listen/ignore;  cloudy/ sunny;  harm/ benefit;  east/west;  even/odd;  forward/backward;  most/ least;  male/ female;  straight/ bent;  loose/tight;  part/whole;  north/ south;  shiny/ dull;  invisible/visible;  tomorrow/ yesterday;  upper-case/lower-case

Secondary – attract/repel;  increase/ decrease;  cause/ effect;  fact/ fiction;  similar/ different;  future/past;  simple/ complex;  certain/doubtful; majority/minority;  problem/ solution;  multiply/ divide;  common/ rare;  probable/unlikely;  stimulus/response;  fire/hire;  lead/follow;  rise/fall; positive/negative;  guilty/innocent

Synonyms list in developmental order:

Early Elementary – angry/mad, assist/help, bad/awful, begin/start, below/under, bother/annoy, buy/purchase, choose/pick, close/shut, connect/join, combine/mix, company/business, component/part, conclusion/ending, couch/sofa, dad/father, data/information, dirt/soil, find/locate, easy/simple, equal/same, get/receive, image/picture, imitate/copy, intelligent/smart, law/rule, lucky/fortunate, mix/stir, object/thing, observe/watch, name/title, quiet/silent, right/correct, order/sequence, rich/wealthy, tell/say, raise/lift, rescue/save, thin/narrow, trade/swap, trash/garbage, unusual/strange, watch/observe

Later Elementary – accomplish/achieve, answer/reply, antonym/opposite, artificial/man made, attribute/property, bargain/deal, choose/select, collect/gather, complete/finish, danger/hazard, directions/instructions, empty/vacant, estimate/guess, faithful/loyal, float/drift, genuine/real, hall/corridor, hurry/rush, illustration/picture, job/occupation, labor/work, last/final, many/numerous, praise/compliment, reliable/dependable

Secondary – brief/concise, casual/informal, clear/transparent, country/nation, dive/plunge, enlarge/ magnify, evidence/support, freedom/liberty, inspect/examine, instance/occurrence, meaningful/significant, necessary/required, previous/former, value/worth

Antonym Contrast Cards

Click on picture to view a small preview of each activity. Click on Doc or PDF to download worksheets in preferred format.

(1)(2)(3)(4)

(1) Antonyms Basic 1 Doc PDF;  (2) Antonyms Basic 2 Doc PDF;     (3) Antonyms Elem 1 Doc PDF;    (4) Antonyms Elem 2 Doc PDF

Antonym and Synonym Word Searches

Click on picture to view a small preview of each activity. Click on Doc or PDF to download worksheets in preferred format.

(1) (2)

(1) Basic Antonyms Word Search Doc PDF;      (2) Later Developing Antonyms Word Search Doc PDF

Antonyms and Synonyms Matching Worksheets

Click on picture to view a small preview of each activity. Click on Doc or PDF to download worksheets in preferred format.

(1) (2)(3)(4)(5)

(1) Antonyms Matching – Basic  Doc PDF;      (2) Antonyms Matching – Early Elementary  Doc PDF;     (3) Combined Antonyms Matching Activity Doc PDF;     (4) Synonyms Matching – Early Elementary  Doc PDF;      (5) Synonyms Matching – Later Elementary Doc PDF;

Other Antonyms and Synonyms Worksheets and Activities

Click on picture to view a small preview of each activity. Click on Doc or PDF to download worksheets in preferred format.

(1)(2)(3) (4)(5)(6)(7)

(1) Antonyms and Synonyms Sentence Jumble Doc PDF;     (2)  Antonyms Grid  Doc PDF;      (3) Synonyms Grid Doc PDF  (4) Basic Antonyms Remember It Doc PDF;     (5) Later Developing Antonyms Remember It Doc PDF(6) Basic Synonyms Remember It Doc PDF;     (7) Later Developing Synonyms Remember It Doc PDF

Bingo! on Teachers Pay Teachers (External Site)

bingo ad 2

(1) Antonyms and Synonyms Sentence Search Doc PDF

104 thoughts on “Antonyms and Synonyms – word lists, activities, and worksheets”

  21. ahme badr

    thanks very much
    that is really great source that can always help us to imrove and develop our english as teachers and students too.

    Like

  23. Anonymous

    My second grade students love these worksheets especially the word searches. Thanks alot !!!
    pokoro

    Like

  25. Pingback: Synonyms & Antonyms. « Elena Marie, SLP

  26. sunny

    thanks a lot ,im very poor in these grammatical .i hope so i could improve my knowledge by overviewing ur above pdf files.if possible could you please mail me basic english course files, so that i can go through it.
    SunnY

    Like

  29. Pingback: questions to

  32. hira

    thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks……………………………
    thankyou so much …………………..

    Like

  36. sadie

    this page is very very good, you must do table of comparations of antonyms and synonyms

    thanks

    Like

  37. Anonymous

    Thanks so much for this site. I am an ESL teacher , currently working with a “mild to severe ” synonym continuum. ( “annoyed, angry,enraged). I now have new ideas, and it’s my hope my student will enjoy this as she learns . Thanks again. – Island mom

    Like

  39. Quennie ladra

    ……!!!!!tankx a l0t 2 u my fwnd synonyms and an2nyms i h0p3 ders much m0r3 ne3ded 2 u…..!!!!!!i l0ve u english subject

    Like

  47. kim

    is it opposite day!! this is the worst website ever!!! who made this stuff

    Like

  50. Paul Post author

    At the time I created the lists, maybe 10 years ago, I used the Nevada Education Benchmarks, I think it was Ohio’s benchmarks, and much of just my own judgment. It was not meant to be scientifically based – which I don’t think something like that even can be – but a loose, flexible guide to language therapy.

    Like

  51. Rijan

    Thank you so much., this kind of synonyms are very important for your study. Thank you once again.

    Like

  53. Kristin Edmonds

    Could you please cite the source of the developmental word list? Thanks.

    Like

  54. Paul Post author

    I developed these about 15 years ago, based on a combination of Nevada’s and (I think it was) Virginia’s grade level expectations, and my own opinion. My list is similar to any core criteria, or grade level list, in that it has to be more reliant on belief than rigid science. They’re meant to be a helpful, and loose, guideline about what sort of order in which these words are generally learned.

    Like

  59. Linlyn Amistad

    thank you very much. it was really a great help. less stress to a working parent.

    Like

  61. Anonymous

    This is very helpful to me . I was having a test and the day before I was finding synonyms and antonyms list but could not

    Like

  73. Pingback: Vocabulary Games for Elementary Students

  93. Pingback: Vocabulary Games for Elementary Students

  103. Lore

    Thank you, you are the best. I am hoping to create the same in Spanish!

    Like

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.