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English Quiz - Synonyms 1 (Questions)

This enjoyable picture quiz on synonyms aims to expand the vocabulary, literacy and all-round English language skills of children in KS1. When reading, the National Curriculum would like children to extend their word bank and this quiz on synonyms is designed to aid that objective.

There are many words in the dictionary and often, we find ourselves using the same ones over and over again. To prevent this, you could use a thesaurus and look up synonyms. A synonym is a word that means the same thing, like the words ‘rich’ and ‘wealthy’.

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1. What is a synonym?
[ ] Two words that sound the same.
[ ] Words that mean different things.
[ ] Words that have the same meaning.
[ ] Words that end in 'ed'.
2. 'The test was very difficult.' What could we use instead of the word 'difficult'?
[ ] fun
[ ] easy
[ ] hard
[ ] enjoyable
3. 'The race was about to start.' What could we use instead of the word 'start'?
[ ] begin
[ ] end
[ ] finish
[ ] run
4. 'The whale was huge.' What could we use instead of the word 'huge'?
[ ] enormous
[ ] small
[ ] tiny
[ ] crazy
5. 'I must tread carefully.' What could we use instead of the word 'carefully'?
[ ] dangerously
[ ] slowly
[ ] quickly
[ ] cautiously
6. 'They went to the centre of the earth.' What could we use instead of the word 'centre'?
[ ] outside
[ ] edge
[ ] middle
[ ] corner
7. 'Ants are very small.' What could we use instead of the word 'small'?
[ ] large
[ ] tiny
[ ] precious
[ ] loving
8. 'He was a super hero.' What could we use instead of the word 'super'?
[ ] bad
[ ] excellent
[ ] average
[ ] kind
9. 'The haunted house was empty.' What could we use instead of the word 'empty'?
[ ] full
[ ] surprised
[ ] overwhelmed
[ ] vacant
10. 'The ghost was very scary.' What could we use instead of the word 'scary'?
[ ] funny
[ ] adorable
[ ] gorgeous
[ ] horrifying

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - What are synonyms and antonyms?

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English Quiz - Synonyms 1 (Answers)
1. What is a synonym?
[ ] Two words that sound the same.
[ ] Words that mean different things.
[x] Words that have the same meaning.
[ ] Words that end in 'ed'.
When looking for a synonym, you are looking for another word that is exactly or as close as possible to meaning the same thing.
2. 'The test was very difficult.' What could we use instead of the word 'difficult'?
[ ] fun
[ ] easy
[x] hard
[ ] enjoyable
Hard and difficult both mean the same thing.
3. 'The race was about to start.' What could we use instead of the word 'start'?
[x] begin
[ ] end
[ ] finish
[ ] run
A thesaurus is like a dictionary but instead of helping you understand what a word means, it gives you other words that mean the same thing.
4. 'The whale was huge.' What could we use instead of the word 'huge'?
[x] enormous
[ ] small
[ ] tiny
[ ] crazy
The largest animal on earth is the blue whale.
5. 'I must tread carefully.' What could we use instead of the word 'carefully'?
[ ] dangerously
[ ] slowly
[ ] quickly
[x] cautiously
The word cautious means careful.
6. 'They went to the centre of the earth.' What could we use instead of the word 'centre'?
[ ] outside
[ ] edge
[x] middle
[ ] corner
The centre of the earth is called the core.
7. 'Ants are very small.' What could we use instead of the word 'small'?
[ ] large
[x] tiny
[ ] precious
[ ] loving
Some ants are as small as one to two millimetres long.
8. 'He was a super hero.' What could we use instead of the word 'super'?
[ ] bad
[x] excellent
[ ] average
[ ] kind
Imagine if we called Superman, Excellentman - that would be a bit harder to say.
9. 'The haunted house was empty.' What could we use instead of the word 'empty'?
[ ] full
[ ] surprised
[ ] overwhelmed
[x] vacant
The word vacant means empty. When people look for jobs, they look for 'job vacancies'.
10. 'The ghost was very scary.' What could we use instead of the word 'scary'?
[ ] funny
[ ] adorable
[ ] gorgeous
[x] horrifying
In some countries, people celebrate Halloween and dress up as ghosts.