Before a first grader can use a thesaurus, they need to notice that some words mean nearly the same thing and others mean the opposite. Read in isolation, a word list like "funny, silly, serious" is just three words to memorize; read inside a sentence about a joke that made everyone laugh, "funny" and "silly" clearly point the same direction and "serious" clearly does not. This worksheet always shows the word in a short, familiar sentence first, then asks your child to find a word that keeps the meaning close or flips it to the opposite.
A few questions ask your child to name the relationship itself: do these two words mean the same thing, or opposite things? The common mistake at this age is treating any two words about the same topic as matching, so a child might pick "cold" as a synonym for "hot" simply because both describe temperature. Encourage your child to say the sentence with each choice and listen for whether the meaning stays the same or flips.
What your child will learn
Find a word that means the same as a word in a sentence
Find a word that means the opposite of a word in a sentence
Explain whether two words are synonyms or antonyms
Use a sentence to check whether a replacement word still makes sense
Worked example
In "Tom told a funny joke," silly keeps the same feeling as funny, while serious would change the meaning completely.
Common mistake
Picking a word from the same topic instead of checking whether the meaning truly matches or truly flips.
Helpful hint
Say the sentence again with your answer in place of the underlined word.
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