Printable Common Prefixes Worksheets
Printable common prefixes worksheets for 2nd through 5th grade, with an answer key on every sheet. The sets below cover 3 different skills, so you can start where your child actually is. Available as fill in the blank and sorting activities.
Targeted Practice by Skill
About Common Prefixes
What this skill is
Prefixes are letter groups added to the beginning of a base word that change its meaning (e.g., un- means not: happy -> unhappy; re- means again: write -> rewrite; pre- means before: view -> preview). Solvers study prefix meanings, spelling rules, and word transformations. Learning prefixes helps students to infer the definitions of thousands of unfamiliar words independently during reading, content study, dictionary work, and vocabulary lessons.
When children learn it
High-frequency prefixes un- and re- begin in 2nd grade. In 3rd through 5th grade, lessons expand to dis-, mis-, pre-, in-, im-, non-, sub-, bi-, and tri- across spelling and vocabulary curricula, reading groups, content area reading, etymology units, and morphology workshops.
Common Mistakes
- Confusing prefix meanings, mistaking 're-' (again) for 'un-' (not) when defining newly formed vocabulary words on worksheets.
- Misassembling prefixes, adding 'un-' to words that require 'im-' or 'in-' (writing 'unpossible' for impossible).
- Mistaking natural starting letters of base words for prefixes (assuming 'uncle' has the prefix un-).