Spring Vocabulary Worksheets – Signs, Animals, Garden

All 36 words

Signs of spring 12

blossom A flower on a branch, before any fruit forms. One pink blossom fell onto the bench.
breeze A soft wind, just strong enough to stir leaves. A breeze lifted the corner of my paper.
bud A tight lump on a twig, soon to be a leaf or flower. Each twig had a green bud at its tip.
drizzle The lightest kind of rain, falling very finely. We walked home in a cool drizzle.
mild Pleasantly warm, not chilly and not too hot. It was a mild morning, so I left my coat at home.
nest What a robin or sparrow makes to lay eggs in. We spotted a nest high in the maple.
outdoors Outside, under the open sky. We ate lunch outdoors on the first warm day.
puddle Water lying in a dip in the path after a shower. A puddle filled the low spot by the gate.
raindrop One tiny blob of water on its way down from a cloud. A raindrop landed on the tip of his nose.
spring The warming time of year that follows winter. Our class plants beans every spring.
sprout A new bit of growth coming up from a seed. A pale sprout pushed up through the dirt.
thaw To turn from ice back to water as the air warms. The pond began to thaw around its edges.

Show all 36 words (24 more)

Animal life in spring 12

bumblebee A large, hairy bee with a loud hum. A bumblebee bumped against the window.
burrow An underground home scooped out by a small animal. Fresh dirt lay around the mouth of the burrow.
caterpillar A leaf-eating grub that becomes a moth or butterfly. A striped caterpillar chewed on the leaf.
duckling A duck that is not yet grown. The last duckling hurried after the others.
earthworm A narrow, boneless creature found under the ground. After the rain an earthworm lay on the path.
emerge To appear from a place that kept you out of sight. The cat would not emerge from under the bed.
fledgling A bird just old enough to try its wings. The fledgling hopped along the wall, flapping.
flutter To flap wings quickly and lightly. A white moth began to flutter at the glass.
hatch To leave the egg, as a newborn bird does. Three eggs in the box are about to hatch.
hummingbird A very small bird that can hang in the air to feed. A hummingbird hung in the air by the red flowers.
songbird Any bird whose voice is sweet to hear. A songbird woke us before the alarm.
tadpole A frog early in life, all head and long tail. A tadpole wriggled past the reeds.

In the yard and garden 12

birdhouse A box made as a home for wild birds. We hung the birdhouse on the oak.
bucket An open-topped holder for water, lifted by its handle. He carried a bucket of water to the bean patch.
fence A line of posts and boards or wire that marks off a yard. A cat sat on top of the fence.
flowerpot A clay or plastic container that holds a growing plant. A flowerpot sat on each step.
hedge Bushes grown in a tight row to edge a yard or field. Sparrows hid inside the hedge.
lawn Grass kept neat and short around a home or in a park. We played tag on the front lawn.
rake A pole with a bar of prongs to drag leaves into heaps. He left the rake leaning on the wall.
shed A little outbuilding where things are stored. The bikes are kept in the shed.
shovel A blade on a handle that lifts and shifts loose dirt. Dad dug the hole with a shovel.
sprinkler A garden device that turns hose water into fine rain. The dog ran through the sprinkler twice.
watering can A pot with a long spout, tipped to pour water on plants. She filled the watering can at the tap.
window box A long tub of soil for flowers on an outside sill. Red flowers filled the window box.

How this list was compiled: Word list chosen for this site on 2026-10-13. Each meaning is written in our own words and was checked that day against the entry for the word in Wiktionary, the free dictionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, and a second time against the entry in the Cambridge Dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/); earthworm was read with the Cambridge entry worm. The sentence after each meaning is our own example of the word in use. The answers under the list rest on the Cambridge entry nestling and on the articles Drizzle, Tadpole, Fledge and Hummingbird of English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, read the same day. Licence: own work

How it works

These free printable spring vocabulary worksheets put twelve words down the left and their meanings, in another order, down the right, with a key. Three sets cover signs of spring, animal life, and the yard and garden.

Read the full guide

Spring vocabulary worksheets for 3rd grade

Set opens on Signs of spring: spring, outdoors, blossom, bud, sprout, puddle, nest, thaw, breeze, drizzle, mild and raindrop. Each meaning is a few plain words: breeze is "a soft wind, just strong enough to stir leaves".

Spring animals and garden words

Animal life in spring runs from hatch, tadpole and duckling to burrow, flutter and emerge. In the yard and garden prints rake, shovel, watering can, flowerpot, window box, sprinkler, lawn, fence, hedge, shed, birdhouse and bucket. Lines typed in the box as word = meaning print in place of the set.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between drizzle and rain?

Drizzle is rain in smaller drops, generally less than half a millimeter across. It usually falls from low, flat clouds, and so little water comes down that a whole day of it adds up to about a millimeter or less.

What is a baby frog called?

A tadpole, also called a polliwog. Most tadpoles live wholly in water, with gills and a swimming tail. As one changes into a frog it starts to develop lungs for breathing air.

What is the difference between a nestling and a fledgling?

A nestling cannot fly yet and has not left the nest. A fledgling has feathers and wing muscles developed enough for flight and has lately left the nest, though it still depends on its parents for food.

Why is it called a hummingbird?

For the humming sound of its beating wings, which flap fast enough for people and other birds to hear. It hovers on about 12 wingbeats a second in the largest kinds and up to 99 in small ones.