Phonics Worksheets Grade 3

Third grade phonics worksheets: Print worksheet gives eight sentences with a blank and three similar words under each.

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Add a "Name" and "Date" line at the top Add an answer key as the last page

Next step Next: 3rd grade spelling worksheets Prefixes and suffixes worksheets

All 144 sentences

Prefixes and suffixes 36

The ___ answer got no points. correction, correctly, incorrect
The ___ driver never looked and bumped the mailbox. careful, careless, caring
The ___ kitten slept through the thunder. feared, fearful, fearless
The ___ seal pup tossed a strand of kelp in the air. player, playful, replay
The ___ will add a second coat to the wall tomorrow. painted, painter, repaint
A ___ neighbor shoveled our walk. helper, helpful, helpless
A book of true facts about volcanoes is ___. nonfiction, nonsense, nonstop
A broken umbrella is ___ in the rain. useful, useless, user
A gray, ___ morning kept the sundial dark. cloudless, clouds, cloudy
After the unit ended, we took a day to ___ what we had learned. preview, review, viewer
The baby is ___ when she misses her nap. happily, happiness, unhappy
Be ___ with Gran's reading glasses. cared, careful, careless
The coach showed a ___ of the winning goal. player, playful, replay
The coin vanished, and then it ___ in my pocket. appearance, disappeared, reappeared
Dad's ___ held the ladder steady. helper, helpful, helpless
The ducklings crossed the road ___. safely, safety, unsafe
The fence faded, so we will ___ it white. painter, painting, repaint
The first chapter was printed early as a ___ of the book. preview, review, viewer

Show all 144 sentences (126 more)

Prefixes and suffixes, continued

I ___ the sign as Oak Street, but it said Oat Street. misread, reader, reread
I ___ with the umpire, so I shook my head. agreeable, agreement, disagree
I had to ___ the messy page in neater letters. rewrite, writer, written
I liked the story so much that I will ___ it. misread, reader, reread
My lace came undone twice, so I had to ___ it. retie, tied, untie
My little brother's ___ has two small wheels in back and one in front. bicycle, recycle, tricycle
The old dock was ___ after the storm, so a rope blocked it. safely, safety, unsafe
Please ___ the knot so I can open the bag. retie, tying, untie
The puzzle we borrowed from the toy library is nine days ___. overdue, oversized, overslept
She spelled every word ___. correction, correctly, incorrect
The smudged map was ___, so we asked a ranger. clearing, clearly, unclear
The sun ___ behind a thick cloud, and the yard grew dim. appearance, disappeared, reappeared
The surprise visit filled Gran with ___. happily, happiness, unhappy
The turtle looked ___ on its back. helpful, helping, helpless
We ___ old newspapers at the town depot. bicycle, recycle, tricycle
We just got home, so I must ___ my suitcase. packer, repack, unpack
We saw every star in the ___ sky. clouded, cloudless, cloudy
We signed an ___ to share the garden plot. agreeable, agreement, disagree

Latin suffixes 36

The ___ cliff had a fence along its edge. danger, dangerous, dangerously
The ___ fixed the wiring in the attic. electrical, electrician, electricity
The ___ forgot one line but kept going. action, active, actor
The ___ plate is for show, not for food. decoration, decorative, decorator
The ___ told the actors where to stand. direction, directly, director
The ___ tuned her cello before the concert. music, musical, musician
A ___ neighbor gave us a bag of plums. generosity, generous, generously
A ___ painter visited our school. fame, famous, famously
A ___ raccoon lifted the lid of every bin. curiosity, curious, curiously
A ___ train whistle woke me. distance, distant, distantly
A cat's whiskers are ___ to the lightest touch. sensible, sensitive, sensor
A clever ___ built this bike from spare parts. invention, inventive, inventor
A compass shows which ___ you are facing. direction, directly, director
A raincoat is a ___ thing to pack for April. sensible, sensitive, sensor
A sudden ___ behind the curtain made the cat pounce. movable, movement, mover
An ___ puppy needs a long walk. action, active, actor
At the party, a ___ turned three scarves into a paper dove. magic, magical, magician
Can you taste the ___ between a lime and a lemon? difference, different, differently
The cat's ___ got it stuck in a paper bag. curiosity, curious, curiously
The eye chart tests your ___. visible, vision, visitor
The first ___ for the bike is due on Friday. payable, payer, payment
Goats climb well in ___ places. mountaineer, mountainous, mountains
The gymnast is so ___ that she can bend into a bridge. flexed, flexible, flexing
Our ___ of shells fills two jars. collection, collective, collector
Our teacher gave us ___ to eat outside. permission, permitted, permitting
The picnic was ___ in spite of the ants. enjoyable, enjoying, enjoyment
The puppy wagged with ___ when it saw the leash. excitable, excitement, exciting
The red kite stayed ___ above the treetops. visible, vision, visitor
The stamp ___ showed us her rarest stamp. collection, collective, collector
The storm cut off our ___ for an hour. electrical, electrician, electricity
The town held a ___ when the bridge opened. celebrate, celebration, celebrity
The twins had an ___ about whose turn it was. arguable, arguing, argument
We clapped with ___ at the puppet show. enjoyable, enjoying, enjoyment
With two more helpers, it is ___ to paint the shed today. possibility, possible, possibly
The wooden toys were left in their ___ color. natural, naturally, nature
The zipper was a useful ___. invention, inventive, inventor

Longer words 36

The ___ hummed each new tune before writing down the notes. commuter, composer, computer
The ___ sanded the shelf smooth. carpenter, carpeting, caterpillar
The ___ spun a cocoon. carpenter, caterpillar, character
The ___ squeezed through a crack in the reef. octagon, October, octopus
The ___ waved from the hatch before liftoff. asterisk, asteroid, astronaut
A ripe ___ hung red on the vine by the fence. tomato, tomorrow, tornado
A small star-shaped mark is called an ___. asterisk, asteroid, astronaut
An ___ sunned itself on the riverbank. alligator, elevator, escalator
Ash rose above the ___ for days. violin, volcano, volume
The baby ___ held its mother's tail with its trunk. elegant, element, elephant
Bright fish darted around the ___. aquarium, auditorium, stadium
The crisp ___ sticks came with a dip. celery, salary, scenery
The dancer made an ___ bow. elegant, element, elephant
Do you ___ where you left your mittens? December, remainder, remember
Each tile in the hall is an ___, with eight edges. octagon, October, octopus
The harvest fair comes back each ___. octagon, October, octopus
I checked the spelling of giraffe in a ___. diary, dictation, dictionary
I circled my birthday on the kitchen ___. calendar, colander, cylinder
I typed my report on the ___. commuter, composer, computer
I wore striped ___ to bed. pajamas, pianos, piranhas
The map shows the ___ of every campsite. location, lotion, vacation
The marching band turned onto the wide ___. advantage, adventure, avenue
The mountain ___ made us stop and stare. celery, salary, scenery
The oatmeal box is a tall ___ with a round lid. calendar, colander, cylinder
Our class trip is ___ morning. tomato, tomorrow, tornado
Our town strings lights on Main Street each ___. December, decimal, remember
Paddling to the island in fog felt like an ___. advantage, adventure, avenue
Please turn down the ___ on the radio. valley, volcano, volume
The recipe needs ___ two cups of flour, no more and no less. exactly, excellent, exercise
Rows of red seats filled the school ___. aquarium, atrium, auditorium
She tucked the ___ under her chin and lifted the bow. violent, violet, violin
Stretching is my first ___ of the day. exactly, excellent, exercise
That tune sounds ___, but I forget its name. familiar, family, famine
Wash the berries in a ___. calendar, colander, cylinder
We rode the ___ to the ninth floor. alligator, educator, elevator
We spent our summer ___ at a lake. location, vacation, vocation

Irregular spellings 36

The ___ of the tower is two hundred feet. eight, heat, height
A ___ rainbow arched over the barn. beautiful, beauty, bountiful
A corner ___ of the puzzle hid under the sofa. peace, piece, pierce
A new ___ moved in next door last week. nature, neighbor, neither
An unsanded plank is ___ and full of splinters. bough, dough, rough
Are you ___ the oven is off? shore, sour, sure
Dad lifted my little sister onto his ___. should, shoulder, soldier
Dad stirred a spoonful of ___ into his tea. sugar, sugary, super
The eggs need one more ___ on the stove. mint, minus, minute
Even ___ my legs were tired, I finished the hike. though, thought, through
The ferry carried us to a small ___. inland, instant, island
Forty ___ waited in line for the ferry. pebble, people, purple
From the hilltop we ___ see three towns. cloud, cold, could
From the tent I ___ rain drum on the tarp. hard, heard, heart
The heavy iron ___ held the tugboat in place. anchor, ankle, answer
I ___ I had packed my lunch, but the bag was empty. though, thought, through
I hung the wet ___ on the line. close, clothes, cloves
I met my oldest ___ at swim lessons. found, fried, friend
I pressed my ear ___ the door. again, against, agent
Knock ___, not twice. once, ones, ounce
Mom was too ___ to answer the phone. bury, bushy, busy
My ___ growled before lunch. stitch, stomach, stomp
My ___ turned blue from the ice pop. tangle, tongue, tonight
The old boot leather was ___ and hard to cut. though, touch, tough
On a cold morning I can see my ___. bread, break, breath
Please ___ for the kitchen timer. lessen, lesson, listen
Raise your hand if you know the ___. anchor, answer, antler
Their ___ plays the oboe. daughter, doubter, laughter
Three ___ rowed the long boat. woman, women, wooden
Tickling my baby cousin makes him ___. laugh, launch, lunch
Today is a ___ day because Gran is visiting. special, speckle, spiral
We had ___ paint for the whole fence. cough, enough, rough
We walked ___ the tunnel to the beach. thorough, though, through
Whales swim across the ___. occur, ocean, onion
Which gate ___ the ferry leave from? does, dose, doze
Worms tunnel through the ___. early, earn, earth

How this list was compiled: Sentences written for this site on 2026-10-03, each with one blank and three real words that look alike: the same base word with different prefixes or suffixes (careful, careless, caring), words with Latin suffixes (action, active, actor), longer words (calendar, colander, cylinder) and words that are not spelled the way they sound (through, though, thought). Each sentence was read with all three words, and only one makes sense. Every word offered is in the ENABLE word list, a public-domain list of English words, apart from the two month names. The suffixes of the second set (-able, -ible, -tion, -ion, -ment, -ous, -ive, -or, -ity, -al, -ence, -ant, -ian) each come from Latin according to their entries at en.wiktionary.org (license CC BY-SA 4.0), read 2026-10-03. The four sets follow the four points of standard RF.3.3 in the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, read on 2026-10-02 in the standards document published at thecorestandards.org. The grade is our suggestion, not a school's list. No published word list or reading program was copied. Licence: own work

How it works

A third grader reads a sentence with one word missing, then three words that share most of their letters, such as careful, careless and caring. One of the three fits the sentence.

Read the full guide

Phonics worksheets, 3rd grade: four sets

Set keeps the sheet to one kind of word. Prefixes and suffixes, where the page opens: unpack, repack or packer. Latin suffixes: action, active or actor. Longer words: calendar, colander or cylinder. Irregular spellings: through, though or thought.

3rd grade phonics worksheets as a PDF

Press Print worksheet and choose Save as PDF in the print window. The answer key is the last page of the file. The three words offered for every sentence are listed under the tool.

Under Set, All of them mixes the four kinds of word on one sheet.

Questions and answers

What phonics do third graders learn?

The Common Core asks third graders to know the most common prefixes and suffixes, decode words with common Latin suffixes, decode multisyllable words and read irregularly spelled words (RF.3.3). The four sets follow those four points. The grade is our suggestion, not a school's list.

Are these free printable 3rd grade phonics worksheets?

Yes. Each sheet is free to print with no sign-up, eight sentences to a page, and choosing another set under Set changes the kind of word.

Is there an answer key for the grade 3 phonics worksheets?

Yes. A second page prints after the sheet with one word circled in each row, which is the answer. The box Add an answer key as the last page, under More options, turns it off.

Can I type sentences with my own word lists?

Yes, in the box above the sheet. Each line is a sentence with ___ in it, then = and the word that fits, then / and a word that does not: The ___ sky had no clouds. = cloudless / cloudy / clouded.

All 144 sentences

Prefixes and suffixes 36

Prefixes and suffixes, continued

Latin suffixes 36

Longer words 36

Irregular spellings 36

How it works

Phonics worksheets, 3rd grade: four sets

3rd grade phonics worksheets as a PDF

Questions and answers

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