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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?

intelligent        smart        brainy

 

They all mean the same thing...clever!

little girl thinking

 

These words are called synonyms.

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


 

Which of the following are synonyms for dirty?

polished        mucky        sparkling        grubby        filthy

 

Mucky, grubby and filthy are all synonyms 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:

The animal tunnelled out of its burrow.

 

Which of the following words is a synonym for tunnelled and could replace it in the sentence?

dug        leaped        sneaked

 

The answer is dug as it has the closest meaning to tunnelled.

 

 

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.

notepad and pen

 

It’s now your turn to identify synonyms.  

Good luck!

10 questions