Opposites Worksheet for Kids (Free Printable PDF)

What’s in the PDF

• Page 1 (Level 1, easier): join five pairs of picture opposites (hot and cold, big and small, up and down, happy and sad, day and night), then circle the opposite of six words.
• Page 2 (Level 2, harder): write the opposite of six words using a word box, then finish four sentences with an opposite.
• Page 3: an answer key for both levels.

Read the instructions aloud for early readers. Children can point or say the answer before they write it.

What are opposites?

Opposites are two words with meanings that are as different as they can be: open and shut, full and empty, fast and slow. Learning them in pairs grows vocabulary quickly and helps children describe and compare things more clearly.

Examples

• Size: big and small, tall and short
• Temperature: hot and cold
• Position: up and down, in and out
• Feelings: happy and sad
• Time: day and night, old and new

How to teach it

Act opposites out with your body: stretch up tall, curl up small; walk fast, then slow; whisper, then speak loudly. Children remember opposites best when they feel the difference. Picture books and everyday objects, like a full cup and an empty cup, give quick real examples.

Common mix-ups

Children may choose a related word rather than an opposite, such as “warm” for hot. Ask whether the word is “as different as it can be”. Some words have more than one opposite (light and dark, light and heavy), which is fine to talk about.

Game: Opposite Simon says

Give instructions that your child must do the opposite of: “Simon says stand up” means sit down; “Simon says look up” means look down. Lots of giggles and lots of practice.

Questions to ask

• What is the opposite of open?
• Can you show me fast and then slow?
• Is this cup full or empty?

Practise next

Try adjectives, rhyming words, in, on, under. Find big and small numbers on the number charts.