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10 printable sets · answer key on every set

Multisyllabic Words Worksheets

  • CCSS RF.3.3.c
  • 16 items per set
  • Answer key included

What this skill is

Breaking longer words into syllables to read them piece by piece instead of all at once.

When it comes up: Third grade, as vocabulary words get noticeably longer.

The mistake to watch for

Trying to sound out the whole word in one attempt and giving up or guessing from the first syllable alone.

How to help

Have your child clap once for each syllable while saying the word slowly. Counting the claps first makes the breaking-apart step concrete.

Next: Root words in fourth grade, which explain where parts of long words come from.

A worked example

Clap the beats in 'elephant': el-e-phant has three syllables. Every syllable has one vowel sound, so break a long word into chunks and read one chunk at a time.

Words to know

syllable
One beat in a word. Elephant has three syllables: el-e-phant.
vowel
The letters a, e, i, o and u. Every syllable has a vowel sound.
consonant
Any letter that is not a vowel, like b, c, d or f.
word
A group of letters that has a meaning.

Practice

Break each word into syllables.

Showing Set 1 · 16 items

  1. Break this word into syllables: calendar
  2. Break this word into syllables: elephant
  3. Break this word into syllables: telephone
  4. Break this word into syllables: butterfly
  5. Break this word into syllables: hospital
  6. Break this word into syllables: popular
  7. Break this word into syllables: banana
  8. Break this word into syllables: vegetable
  9. Break this word into syllables: alligator
  10. Break this word into syllables: umbrella
  11. Break this word into syllables: bicycle
  12. Break this word into syllables: family
  13. Break this word into syllables: dinosaur
  14. Break this word into syllables: kangaroo
  15. Break this word into syllables: dictionary
  16. Break this word into syllables: computer

Download this set16 items · answer key included PDF

Answer key
  1. cal-en-dar
  2. el-e-phant
  3. tel-e-phone
  4. but-ter-fly
  5. hos-pi-tal
  6. pop-u-lar
  7. ba-na-na
  8. veg-e-ta-ble
  9. al-li-ga-tor
  10. um-brel-la
  11. bi-cy-cle
  12. fam-i-ly
  13. di-no-saur
  14. kan-ga-roo
  15. dic-tion-ar-y
  16. com-pu-ter

All 10 sets

Each set is a different list of 16 items with its own answer key. Use the buttons above to look at one on this page, or download any of them as a PDF.

How these sheets were made
  • Problems are generated for each set and checked against RF.3.3.c before the sheet is built — no duplicates, and every problem falls inside the standard's number range.

Common Core State Standards © 2010 National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.