Hyphen Worksheets

Print worksheet gives 8 sentences: circle the form with or without a hyphen, or the mark, hyphen or dash.

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Made at homeroomtools.comRead each sentence. Circle the word that fits.1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.Hyphens and dashesWe crossed ariver.slowly movingslowly-movingThekitten purred.blue eyedblue-eyedWe live on astreet.one wayone-wayThe fence istall.six-feetsix-footsix feetIt was atrip.three-daysthree daythree-dayThedrummer learned from videos.self-taughtself taughtselftaughtOnly one team was leftours.-—He played a handcarved flute.-—
Made at homeroomtools.comRead each sentence. Circle the word that fits.1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.Hyphens and dashesAnswer keyWe crossed ariver.slowly movingslowly-movingThekitten purred.blue eyedblue-eyedWe live on astreet.one wayone-wayThe fence istall.six-feetsix-footsix feetIt was atrip.three-daysthree daythree-dayThedrummer learned from videos.self-taughtself taughtselftaughtOnly one team was leftours.-—He played a handcarved flute.-—slowly movingblue-eyedone-waysix feetthree-dayself-taught—-
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All 178 sentences

Hyphen or no hyphen 108

  • The ___ came to cheer for us. ex champion, ex-champion, exchampion
  • The ___ dash starts at noon. fifty yard, fifty-yard, fifty-yards
  • The ___ drummer learned from videos. self taught, self-taught, selftaught
  • The ___ game is in July. all star, all-star, allstar
  • The ___ gift sat on the table. nicely wrapped, nicely-wrapped
  • The ___ kitten purred. blue eyed, blue-eyed
  • The ___ lawn looked like carpet. evenly cut, evenly-cut
  • The ___ movie made us laugh. two hour, two-hour, two-hours
  • The ___ oven saves time. self cleaning, self-cleaning, selfcleaning
  • The ___ pitcher threw a curve. left handed, left-handed
  • The ___ poet took a bow. award winning, award-winning
  • The ___ puppy ran in circles. wildly happy, wildly-happy
  • The ___ puppy slept all day. eight week old, eight-week old, eight-week-old
  • The ___ turtle crossed the road. slow moving, slow-moving
  • The ___ twins waved. curly haired, curly-haired
  • A ___ bird sat on the wire. red winged, red-winged
  • A ___ dog barked at the gate. long haired, long-haired
  • A ___ engine pulled the train. steam powered, steam-powered
  • A ___ monster starred in the tale. three eyed, three-eyed
  • A ___ sign hung over the door. hand painted, hand-painted
  • A ___ stool tipped over. three legged, three-legged
  • A ___ tune drifted in. softly played, softly-played
  • The answer was ___ long. one word, one-word
  • The baby is ___ old. seven months, seven-month, seven-months
Show all 178 sentences (154 more)

Hyphen or no hyphen, continued

  • The band took a ___ break. ten minute, ten-minute, ten-minutes
  • The bike trail is ___ long. six miles, six-mile, six-miles
  • The book has ___ chapters. thirty three, thirty-three, thirtythree
  • The break was ___ long. ten minutes, ten-minute, ten-minutes
  • The bridge is ___ long. two miles, two-mile, two-miles
  • The bus has ___ seats. forty two, forty-two, fortytwo
  • The bus made a ___. U turn, U-turn, Uturn
  • The camp lasts ___. two weeks, two-week, two-weeks
  • The choir has ___ singers. thirty eight, thirty-eight, thirtyeight
  • The class read a ___ poem. four line, four-line, four-lines
  • The fair opens in ___. mid July, mid-July, midJuly
  • The farm has ___ goats. forty five, forty-five, fortyfive
  • The fence is ___ tall. six feet, six-feet, six-foot
  • The hall holds ___ chairs. ninety six, ninety-six, ninetysix
  • He has a ___ pass. one day, one-day
  • He lives in a ___ house. two story, two-story
  • He opened a ___ lunch. neatly packed, neatly-packed
  • He ran ___ laps. twenty six, twenty-six, twentysix
  • He sent a ___ note. quickly written, quickly-written
  • He wore a ___ shirt. short sleeved, short-sleeved
  • Her nap lasted ___. twenty minutes, twenty-minute, twenty-minutes
  • Her report was only ___ long. five pages, five-page, five-pages
  • The highway has ___. four lanes, four-lane, four-lanes
  • The hike took ___. four hours, four-hour, four-hours
  • The house has ___. two stories, two-stories, two-story
  • I ate a ___ pear. freshly picked, freshly-picked
  • I counted ___ steps. seventy five, seventy-five, seventyfive
  • I found a ___ bill. twenty dollar, twenty-dollar, twenty-dollars
  • I got a ___ card. hand drawn, hand-drawn
  • I need a ___ nap. twenty minute, twenty-minute, twenty-minutes
  • I own ___ marbles. fifty two, fifty-two, fiftytwo
  • I read ___ pages last night. eighty one, eighty-one, eightyone
  • I wore my blue ___. T shirt, T-shirt, Tshirt
  • It takes ___ to wait your turn. self control, self-control, selfcontrol
  • It was a ___ model. carefully built, carefully-built
  • It was a ___ story. poorly told, poorly-told
  • It was a ___ trip. three day, three-day, three-days
  • The jug holds ___. one gallon, one-gallon
  • The melon weighs ___. twelve pounds, twelve-pound, twelve-pounds
  • The movie ran for ___. two hours, two-hour, two-hours
  • My ___ sister can read. five year old, five-year old, five-year-old
  • My grandmother is ___ years old. sixty eight, sixty-eight, sixtyeight
  • My youngest cousin is ___ old. five years, five-year, five-years
  • Our ___ visited the team. ex coach, ex-coach, excoach
  • Our canoe trip lasted ___. three days, three-day, three-days
  • Our class is ___ long. fifty minutes, fifty-minute, fifty-minutes
  • Our neighbor is a ___ fiddler. well known, well-known
  • The pass is good for ___. one day, one-day
  • The play runs for ___. three weeks, three-week, three-weeks
  • The poem has ___. four lines, four-line, four-lines
  • The pool is ___ deep. eight feet, eight-feet, eight-foot
  • The puppy is ___ old. eight weeks, eight-week, eight-weeks
  • The quiz has ___. ten questions, ten-question, ten-questions
  • The rope is ___ long. forty feet, forty-feet, forty-foot
  • The rope ladder is ___ long. ten feet, ten-feet, ten-foot
  • School starts in ___. mid August, mid-August, midAugust
  • She carried a ___ jug. one gallon, one-gallon
  • She gave a ___ answer. one word, one-word
  • She painted a ___. self portrait, self-portrait, selfportrait
  • She saved ___ dollars. fifty six, fifty-six, fiftysix
  • She scored ___ points. twenty one, twenty-one, twentyone
  • She wore a ___ scarf. loosely tied, loosely-tied
  • She wrote a ___ report. five page, five-page, five-pages
  • The shelf is ___ wide. three feet, three-feet, three-foot
  • The song lasts ___. six minutes, six-minute, six-minutes
  • The sprint is ___ long. fifty yards, fifty-yard, fifty-yards
  • The stool has ___. three legs, three-legged, three-legs
  • The store has a ___ checkout. self service, self-service, selfservice
  • There are ___ students in my class. twenty four, twenty-four, twentyfour
  • They built a ___ fence. six foot, six-feet, six-foot
  • They sell ___ bread. home baked, home-baked
  • The tree is ___ old. ninety years, ninety-year, ninety-years
  • We bought ___ carrots. honey glazed, honey-glazed
  • We counted ___ geese. thirty seven, thirty-seven, thirtyseven
  • We crossed a ___ river. slowly moving, slowly-moving
  • We drove on a ___ highway. four lane, four-lane, four-lanes
  • We have a ___ quiz today. ten question, ten-question, ten-questions
  • We hiked a ___ trail. six mile, six-mile, six-miles
  • We live on a ___ street. one way, one-way
  • We need a ___ ladder. ten foot, ten-feet, ten-foot
  • We picked ___ apples. eighty four, eighty-four, eightyfour
  • We sold ___ tickets. ninety nine, ninety-nine, ninetynine
  • We waited for ___. nine hours, nine-hour, nine-hours
  • We walked into a ___ room. brightly lit, brightly-lit

Hyphen or dash 70

  • A cold ___ nosed puppy licked my hand.
  • A long ___ tailed monkey stole a plum.
  • A sharp ___ eyed hawk circled us.
  • A soft ___ spoken guide led the tour.
  • A sweet ___ smelling vine grew there.
  • A wide ___ eyed owl stared at us.
  • The all ___ day pass covers every ride.
  • All was packed ___ except the tent.
  • The answer was simple ___ ask for help.
  • The baby took a two ___ hour nap.
  • The bell rang ___ class was over.
  • The cake was perfect ___ until it fell.
  • Dinner was ready ___ or so we thought.
  • The door creaked ___ then it slammed.
  • The ex ___ mayor waved in the parade.
  • Forty ___ three ducks landed here.
  • Grandpa turns eighty ___ one in May.
  • Guess what we found ___ a nest.
  • He is a self ___ taught juggler.
  • He played a hand ___ carved flute.
  • He ran outside ___ nobody was there.
  • He told a spine ___ tingling tale.
  • He wanted just one thing ___ more time.
  • I almost won ___ almost.
  • I forgot one thing ___ my lunch.
  • I had an idea ___ a pillow fort.
  • I have twenty ___ two baseball cards.
  • I know who took it ___ the dog.
  • I need thirty ___ five cents.
  • I opened the box ___ it was empty.
  • I tried the soup ___ too salty.
  • I wrote a four ___ page story.
  • It was a hard ___ won game.
  • It was a last ___ minute goal.
  • It was no ghost ___ it was the cat.
  • The lights went out ___ we all froze.
  • Look at the sky ___ a double rainbow.
  • The mid ___ June heat melted our ice.
  • Mom drove down a one ___ way road.
  • My brother has one rule ___ no peeking.
  • Only one team was left ___ ours.
  • Our car has a name ___ Rusty.
  • Our self ___ cleaning oven beeped.
  • Our team wore red T ___ shirts.
  • Pack two things ___ a hat and a map.
  • The puppy wants one thing ___ a shoe.
  • The red ___ nosed clown juggled.
  • Seventy ___ six kids ran the race.
  • She caught a five ___ pound fish.
  • She had one wish ___ a puppy.
  • She has a ten ___ speed bike.
  • She said yes ___ then changed her mind.
  • She trained all year ___ for this race.
  • Stop ___ you dropped your glove.
  • The storm ended ___ at last.
  • That was a well ___ earned rest.
  • They sell sun ___ dried tomatoes.
  • The trail ended here ___ at a cliff.
  • The trip in one word ___ wet.
  • The van made a slow U ___ turn.
  • Wait ___ I hear something.
  • We climbed a forty ___ foot tower.
  • We finally saw it ___ a whale.
  • We had a plan ___ a good one.
  • We looked up ___ the kite was gone.
  • We need a self ___ addressed envelope.
  • We ordered a twelve ___ inch pizza.
  • We sang a much ___ loved song.
  • We saw a three ___ toed sloth.
  • The winner was a surprise ___ me.

How this list was compiled: Written for this page. The hyphen rules were read in the Purdue Online Writing Lab page Hyphen Use, owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/hyphen_use.html: a hyphen joins two or more words that serve as a single adjective before a noun (a ten-minute break) and is left out when the words come after the noun; compound numbers take a hyphen; so do the prefixes self-, ex- and all-, a prefix before a capital letter, and a letter joined to a word. Numbers from 21 to 99 and the adverbs that end in -ly (no hyphen, as various style guides advise) were read in the Wikipedia articles English numerals, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_numerals, and Hyphen, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyphen. In the second set the blank stands for the mark, with a space each side of it for a hyphen and a dash alike; a hyphen joins the parts of one word and a dash marks a break in the sentence, as in the Wikipedia article Dash, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash. All were read on 16 October 2026. After the noun the sheets use only a number with its noun (ten minutes long, one day); compounds that some dictionaries and style guides keep hyphenated everywhere, those with well among them, are left out there. No person, brand or character is named. Licence: own work

How it works

Each sheet is a grammar worksheet on hyphens and dashes. Some sentences ask for the right form (ten-minute or ten minute); in others the mark itself is the blank, with a short line and a long line to choose from.

Read the full guide

Hyphen or no hyphen

Two or more words that work as one adjective before a noun take a hyphen: The band took a ten-minute break. Numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine take one, and so do self-, ex- and all-: self-taught, ex-coach, all-star.

Hyphen or dash

Inside one word the mark is a hyphen: a three-toed sloth, forty-three ducks. Where the sentence breaks off it is a dash, as between I opened the box and it was empty. Under Set, each kind of question has a sheet of its own.

  • After an adverb that ends in -ly, style guides advise no hyphen: a brightly lit room.
  • A letter joined to a word takes a hyphen: T-shirt, U-turn.
  • The blank has a space each side. In print a hyphen has none, and most American style guides set the dash the same way.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between a hyphen and a dash?

A hyphen is short and joins words or parts of a word: well-known, forty-two. A dash is longer and separates parts of a sentence, marking a break or setting off an added remark. They are two marks, not two sizes of one.

When does a compound adjective lose its hyphen?

When it comes after the noun: a well-known fiddler, but the fiddler is well known. Some style guides keep the hyphen wherever a dictionary lists the compound with one, so after the noun these sheets use only number phrases such as ten minutes long.

Are these hyphen worksheets right for 5th grade?

As a suggestion, yes. The Common Core names the dash in grades 6 and 8 (L.6.2a, L.8.2a) and hyphenation conventions in grades 11 and 12 (L.11-12.2a), and no standard names the hyphen in 5th grade.

Does the answer key show the marks?

Yes. The last page repeats the sheet with the right form circled and the hyphen or dash drawn in its blank. Uncheck Add an answer key as the last page under More options to print the sheet alone.

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