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Greek and Latin Roots Worksheets

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Greek and Latin root charts, a root words list, root meaning matches, sorts, word building with a no-cut twin, using roots as meaning clues, and a root word web.

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Greek and Latin roots charts and word list

Eight Greek roots and eight Latin roots with their meanings, each with two example words split into parts, and a list of 46 root words in six families.

Root meanings

Match ten Greek roots and ten Latin roots to their meanings, and sort words by their root.

Using roots

Split words into a root and another part, build words from root meanings (cut and paste or no-cut), use a root to choose a meaning, choose the root word that fits a sentence, and collect words on a root word web.

Print at 100% (actual size) for the cleanest tracing lines.

About these greek and latin roots worksheets

A root is the main part of a word that carries its meaning. Many English words are built from Greek and Latin roots: tele means far, phon means sound, graph means write, port means carry, rupt means break and spect means look. Once a child knows a root, a whole family of words opens up. A telephone carries sound from far away; a portable radio can be carried; a volcano erupts when it breaks open.

Greek roots show up in many science and technology words: telescope (far + look), microscope (small + look), biology (life + study of), geography (earth + write) and autograph (self + write). Latin roots show up all over everyday English: transport (across + carry), interrupt (between + break), construct (together + build), inspect (into + look), predict (before + say) and audible (hear + can be).

These Greek and Latin roots worksheets start with two charts that show eight roots each, with every example word split into its parts and their meanings. Children then match roots to meanings, sort words by root, split words into parts, build words from root meanings (cut and paste or no-cut), use a root as a clue to choose a meaning, and choose the right root word for a sentence. Pages with right answers have an answer key on page 2.

Standards

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.4.BUse common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., telegraph, photograph, autograph).
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.4.3.AUse combined knowledge of all letter-sound correspondences, syllabication patterns, and morphology (e.g., roots and affixes) to read accurately unfamiliar multisyllabic words in context and out of context.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.4Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 4 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.

How to use them

  1. Start with the Greek roots chart or the Latin roots chart. Read each root and its meaning, then read the two example words and how their parts add up.
  2. Use the match and sort pages to practice the meanings, then the split and build pages to take words apart and put them together.
  3. Use the root clue and sentence pages to show how a root helps with a word you have never seen.
  4. Put the root word web on the wall or in a notebook. Each week, choose a root and collect words that use it.

Teaching tips

  • Teach roots in families. After port, ask children to find transport, import, export, portable and passport, and say what each has to do with carrying.
  • A root is a clue, not a definition. Microscope means small + look, so it is a tool for looking at small things; the sentence still matters.
  • Some roots have two spellings: scrib and script, vis and vid. Show both forms in real words (describe, manuscript; visible, video).
  • Link roots to spelling. Knowing the root spect helps a child spell inspect, respect and spectator correctly.

Questions teachers and parents ask

What are Greek and Latin roots?

Word parts that come from Greek and Latin and carry meaning. For example, the Greek root phon means sound (telephone, symphony) and the Latin root port means carry (transport, portable).

What is the difference between a root and a base word?

A base word can stand alone (play in replay). A root often cannot stand alone in English (spect in inspect), but it still carries the main meaning of the word.

When do children learn Greek and Latin roots?

Most children meet roots in 4th grade, when they learn to use Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of words like telegraph, photograph and autograph, and keep building on them through middle school.

Do the worksheets have answer keys?

Yes. Every page with right answers has an answer key on page 2. The charts, word list and root word web don't need one.