You may have already looked at antonyms (words meaning the opposite to each other) but now here’s a challenge about synonyms.  

Can you help us out with these, word detective?

 

What do you notice about the words below?

giggle        chortle        chuckle

 

They all mean the same thing…laugh!

 

These words are called synonyms.

Synonyms are words that mean the same or have a very similar meaning to other words.

We could also use the following words as synonyms for laugh: snigger, titter, snort

 

Which of the following are synonyms for holiday?

break        rest        sleep        nap         vacation

 

Break, rest and vacation are all synonyms for holiday as they mean the same or a similar thing.

 

A thesaurus is a great resource to use to look up synonyms for words.

 

Let’s try another:

Which of the following words is a synonym for honest?

fair        equal        truthful

 

The answer is truthful as it has the closest meaning to honest.

 

 

Pssstt!! Here’s a handy hint to help you reach superstar status: 

The first letter of the word synonym is the same as the first letter for similar.  

It’s a clever trick to remember what synonym means.

 

 

If you come across any new words in this activity, make a note of them so that you can use them in your writing.

 

It’s now your turn to identify synonyms.  

Good luck!