Rhyming Words Worksheet: Free KS1 Phonics Printable

What this rhyming worksheet teaches

This activity focuses on generating rhymes: rather than just spotting words that sound the same, the child has to think of a brand-new word that ends in the same sound. That is a more demanding step and a strong sign that a child is hearing the 'rime' (the end part) of a word clearly. Each picture comes from a tidy, familiar rhyme family. A cat rhymes with hat, mat, bat, sat, rat and pat. A frog rhymes with dog, log, jog and bog. A bun rhymes with sun, fun, run, bun and gun. Because the spellings in these families are mostly regular, children can usually hear the rhyme and have a fair chance of spelling it too, which keeps the task encouraging rather than frustrating.

Why rhyme matters before reading

Phonological awareness, the ability to hear and play with the sounds in spoken language, is one of the most reliable predictors of how smoothly a child learns to read. Rhyme is an early, playful part of that awareness. When a child notices that two words finish in the same way, they are paying attention to sound rather than meaning, which is exactly the mindset phonics teaching builds on. Nursery rhymes, songs and rhyming picture books all feed this skill long before formal lessons begin, so a short written task like this one simply makes the learning visible and gives you a chance to talk about the sounds together.

How to use it at home or in class

Say each pictured word aloud with the child first, stretching out the ending: 'caaat'. Ask them to suggest several rhyming words before choosing one to write, because thinking of three or four out loud is where the real learning happens. Accept any correctly spelled real word that rhymes; there is no single right answer. For children who are still finding letter formation tricky, you might let them say the word while you scribe, then have them copy it. Once the writing is finished, the colouring picture gives a gentle reward and a natural moment to revisit the words: 'You coloured the frog green, can you remember a word that rhymes with frog?'

Extending the activity

To stretch a confident child, ask them to build a whole 'rhyming string' for each picture and count how many words they can find, or to make up a silly two-line rhyme such as 'The cat sat on the mat'. Some children enjoy sorting words that look the same but do not rhyme, which sharpens listening. If a child writes a word that rhymes but is spelled in an unexpected way (for example 'won' for a word rhyming with bun), praise the listening first, then gently model the more common spelling. The aim at this stage is confident, happy sound play rather than perfect spelling.

Frequently asked questions