Transparent Translucent Opaque Worksheet

All 24 words

Transparent 8

air Transparent. Air is clear, so you see straight across a room through it.
clean water Transparent. Most of the light that reaches clean water goes on through it.
fish tank glass Transparent. A fish tank has at least one see-through side for looking in.
greenhouse roof Transparent. Sunlight passes through the roof and reaches the plants inside.
magnifying glass Transparent. Its lens is a piece of clear glass that light passes through.
plastic wrap Transparent. The thin, clear film shows the food it covers.
window glass Transparent. Light passes straight through, so you see clearly what is on the other side.
windshield Transparent. It is the clear glass screen at the front of a car.

Translucent 8

fingernail Translucent. A nail is a thin plate of keratin that lets some light through.
frosted glass Translucent. Its rough surface scatters the light, so shapes behind it look blurred.
paper lampshade Translucent. The shade lets the lamp's light through and softens it.
shadow puppet screen Translucent. The audience sees the shadows of the puppets through the lit cloth.
sheer curtain Translucent. It is made of thin fabric that lets some of the daylight in.
tissue paper Translucent. The paper is so thin that some light passes through it.
tracing paper Translucent. Enough light comes through to show the lines of a picture laid under it.
wax paper Translucent. Paper coated with wax lets some light through, but no clear view.

Show all 24 words (8 more)

Opaque 8

aluminum foil Opaque. Foil is a sheet of metal, and a sheet of metal this thick lets no light through.
blackout curtain Opaque. The fabric is made to keep light out of a room.
brick Opaque. A brick blocks all the light that hits it and casts a dark shadow.
cardboard Opaque. It lets no light through, so shadow puppets can be cut from it.
clay pot Opaque. Fired clay lets no light through.
closed shutter Opaque. A shutter that is fully closed blocks the light at a window.
metal spoon Opaque. Metal bounces back most of the light that hits it, which is why it shines.
sleep mask Opaque. It covers the eyes to block out light.

How this list was compiled: Word list chosen for this site on 2026-10-11. Every word stands under one heading only, and each was checked that day against a page that says how it treats light. The English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: Transparency and translucency (window glass, clean water, air, metal), Opacity, Light, Greenhouse, Aquarium, Lens and Magnifying glass, Waxed paper, Frosted glass, Tissue paper, Tracing paper, Curtain (sheer curtains), Lampshade, Nail (anatomy), Shadow play, Metal and Aluminium foil, Blackout (fabric), Earthenware, Blindfold and Window shutter. Wiktionary, the free dictionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/), entries transparent, translucent, opaque, windshield, wax paper, tissue paper, tracing paper, fingernail, sleep mask and shutter. The Cambridge Dictionary (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/), entries plastic wrap, frosted, translucent and opaque. BBC Bitesize, Light and shadows (https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zcrhvj6), for brick, cardboard and tissue paper. A thing that can be made more than one way (stained glass, a plastic bottle, ice, sunglasses) or that no page read places under a heading (wood, stone) was left out. Licence: own work

How it works

This transparent, translucent, opaque worksheet prints twelve everyday things above three headings. Pupils write each one under the heading that fits: clean water under Transparent, wax paper under Translucent, brick under Opaque. An answer key is the last page.

Read the full guide

A transparent, opaque and translucent worksheet to cut and paste

The sheet picks four things for each heading from the 24 listed under the tool, each with the reason it stands where it does. With Answer by set to Cut and paste, the words print as tiles to cut out and stick under a heading.

Things that are not here

Stained glass, ice and plastic bottles are not on the sheet: each can be clear, cloudy or solid, so it has no single right heading. Every word listed stands under one heading only.

Your own lists go in the box, one heading per line: Opaque: brick, cardboard.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between transparent, translucent and opaque?

A transparent material lets light pass straight through, so you see clearly through it. A translucent material lets light through but scatters it, so things behind it look blurred. An opaque material lets no light through.

What are examples of transparent, translucent and opaque objects?

Transparent: window glass, clean water, plastic wrap. Translucent: wax paper, frosted glass, tissue paper. Opaque: brick, cardboard, aluminum foil. The list under the tool has eight of each, with the reason for each one.

Is frosted glass transparent or translucent?

Translucent. Frosted glass is clear glass whose surface has been sandblasted or etched with acid. The rough surface scatters the light that passes through, so the glass lets light in and blurs what is behind it.

Which materials make the darkest shadows?

Opaque ones. An opaque object blocks all the light that hits it, so the shadow behind it is dark. A translucent object lets some of the light through and casts a lighter shadow.