Christmas Vocabulary Worksheet – Tree, Trim and Gifts

All 36 words

The tree 12

artificial Man-made: a copy of a thing that is found in nature. An artificial tree can be used year after year.
branch A limb of a tree that divides into smaller twigs. Ornaments hang from the tips of the branches.
conifer A tree whose seeds form in cones, not in fruit. A fir and a spruce are both conifers.
evergreen A tree or bush that is never bare of leaves. A fir tree is an evergreen.
fir A conifer whose cones stand upright on its branches. A fir cone breaks apart when it is ripe.
foliage The leaves or needles of a plant, taken together. A healthy tree has thick green foliage.
needle The thin, pointed leaf of a pine, fir or spruce. Needles stay on an evergreen tree all winter.
nursery A place where young plants and trees are raised. Young firs grow in a nursery before they are planted out.
resin The sticky substance that oozes from a pine or fir. Resin feels sticky on the fingers.
spruce A conifer with four-sided needles, each on a small peg. A spruce twig feels rough where old needles have dropped.
tree farm A farm whose crop is trees, cut when they are big enough. Families visit a tree farm to choose a tree.
trunk The upright woody body of a tree, below the branches. The branches grow out from the trunk.

Show all 36 words (24 more)

Decorations 12

bauble A shiny ball of glass or plastic for the tree. A glass bauble breaks if it is dropped.
candle A light source: a string wick burning in a block of wax. Before electric lights, trees were lit with candles.
candy cane A hard peppermint stick with a hooked top. A candy cane can hang from a branch by its hook.
fairy lights A string of tiny electric lights. Fairy lights are wound around the branches.
garland A rope of leaves, beads or paper hung in loops. A garland of popcorn can be made with a needle and thread.
ornament Any small decoration for the tree, whatever its shape. Each child made an ornament from felt.
paper chain Loops of colored paper linked one through the next. A paper chain needs only paper strips and glue.
pine cone The woody, scaly seed case of a pine. A pine cone holds the tree's seeds under its scales.
tinsel Glittering threads of foil draped over the branches. Tinsel catches the light.
tree topper The decoration set on the very top of the tree. The tree topper goes on last.
trim To dress something up with decorations. The class will trim the tree on Friday.
wreath A circle of greenery made to hang on a door. A wreath may be tied with a bow.

Gifts and gatherings 12

December The month that ends the year. New Year's Eve falls on December 31.
feast A rich meal that many people sit down to together. The feast filled the whole table.
gift Something given to another person without payment. She made a gift for her grandmother.
greeting card A folded card sent with good wishes. He wrote a greeting card to his aunt.
guest A person invited to someone's home or party. Every guest brought a dish.
host A person who invites others and looks after them. The host met everyone at the door.
parcel A wrapped package, ready to be sent or carried. The parcel came in the mail.
party A gathering of people who meet to celebrate. The class party was on the last day before winter break.
ribbon A narrow band of fabric, often tied into a bow on a gift. The box was wrapped and tied with ribbon.
stocking A big sock put out to hold small presents. Each stocking had a name on it.
unwrap To take the paper covering off something. They took turns to unwrap one gift each.
wrapping paper Decorated paper folded around a gift. Wrapping paper is held shut with tape.

How this list was compiled: Word list chosen for this site on 2026-10-02. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day against the entry for the term in Wiktionary, the free dictionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. What is said of the fir and the spruce was read that day in the articles Fir and Spruce in English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, and the candles once used to light a tree in the article Christmas tree. The example after each meaning is our own. Licence: own work

How it works

This Christmas vocabulary worksheet prints twelve words down the left and their meanings, mixed up, down the right. Three sets cover the tree, its decorations, and gifts and gatherings.

Read the full guide

Three sets

Set opens on The tree: conifer, evergreen, fir, spruce, needle, branch, trunk and resin. Decorations has ornament, tinsel, garland, bauble, wreath and candy cane. Gifts and gatherings has wrapping paper, parcel, stocking, guest, host and feast.

Things of the season

The words name what a class can see and touch in December; the list has no words of faith. Under the tool each word has a sentence: A garland of popcorn can be made with a needle and thread.

Answer by has Cut and paste: a shorter sheet whose meanings are cut out and glued on.

Questions and answers

What words are on a Christmas vocabulary list?

Ours has tree words such as fir, spruce, needle and trunk, decoration words such as tinsel, garland and wreath, and words for gifts and gatherings such as parcel, stocking, guest and feast.

What is the difference between a fir and a spruce?

A fir's cones stand upright on its branches. A spruce has four-sided needles, each set on a small peg that stays on the twig when the needle drops.

Can it be used as a Christmas vocabulary worksheet in ESL classes?

Every meaning is a single short line, and each word has a sentence under the tool. Set Pairs to 6 or 8 for a shorter sheet.

Can I save the Christmas vocabulary worksheets as a PDF?

Yes. Press Print worksheet, then choose Save as PDF in the print window. The last page of the file is the answer key, with a line from each word to its meaning.