Rhyming Words & Word Families — Answer Key
Part A: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1. I rang the bell at the front door.
Bell is in the -ell word family along with tell, well, and sell. Grade 1 readers can decode new -ell words easily once they learn the pattern.
2. I climbed up the steep hill.
Hill belongs to the -ill family with pill, fill, and will. Knowing the rime helps first graders blend a single onset letter with a familiar ending.
3. I love to bake a chocolate cake.
Bake is part of the -ake family with cake, lake, and make. This long-vowel family uses silent e, a big step up from short-vowel CVC words.
4. The red sun is shining brightly.
Sun rhymes with run, fun, and bun in the -un family. Grade 1 students build confidence by spotting a rime they know inside a new sentence.
5. I read a new book yesterday.
Read (past tense) is in the -ed family with bed, fed, and led. Short-vowel -ed words are common in early-reader books and build sight-word speed.
6. The cat is my favorite pet.
Pet belongs to the -et family with get, let, net, and wet. Reading by rime helps first graders move beyond sounding out each letter one at a time.
7. The king lives in a big hall.
Hall is in the -all family with ball, call, fall, and tall. The -all rime has a unique long /aw/ sound that Grade 1 students learn to recognize on sight.
8. The choir is singing a song.
Singing uses the -ing rime, which also appears in ring, king, and wing. The -ing family is one of the most useful patterns in early reading.
9. I hide and you seek.
Seek rhymes with peek and week. Rhyming pairs in games and songs help first graders hear ending sounds naturally and build phonemic awareness.
Part B: Matching
Match each item on the left to the correct answer on the right.
1. Match each item to its correct answer.
-ell
→ shell
shell
-ill
→ spill
spill
-ake
→ snake
snake
-ing
→ ring
ring
Each word family, or rime, is a chunk of letters that sound the same at the end of a word. Grade 1 readers who learn rimes can read many new words by swapping just the first sound.