Nifty Worksheets · Roundups · Reading

21Free Rhyming Words Worksheets, Kindergarten to Grade 1

Twenty one free rhyming words worksheets in the order I would actually use them. Rhyming is a listening skill before it is a reading one, so the set opens with four pages that have no words on them at all, moves through yes-or-no judging and written word rows, and finishes with three pages where a child has to come up with the rhymes themselves. If you only print one, print the fourth or fifth thing that matches where your child already is, not the first.

In this roundup

The full list

  1. Rhyme Chase: Coloring Rhyming Words Worksheet
  2. Rhyme Time: Color the Rhyming Words Worksheet
  3. Rhyme Hunt: Color the Match Rhyming Words Worksheet
  4. Rhyme Party: Picture Rhyming Words Worksheet
  5. Circle the Picture: Rhyming Words Worksheet
  6. Find the Rhyme: Picture Rhyming Words Worksheet
  7. Do These Words Rhyme? Yes/No Rhyming Words Worksheet
  8. Picture Pairs Yes or No Rhyming Words Worksheet
  9. Rhyme or No Rhyme? Yes/No Rhyming Words Worksheet
  10. Thumbs Up or Down: Rhyming Words Worksheet
  11. Listen for the Rhyme: Thumbs Rhyming Words Worksheet
  12. Space Yes or No: Rhyming Words Coloring Worksheet
  13. Circle the Word: CVC Rhyming Words Worksheet
  14. Which Word Rhymes? Rhyming Words Worksheet
  15. Find the Rhyming Word: Grade 1 Rhyming Words Worksheet
  16. Pop the Rhymes: Dab-a-Dot Rhyming Words Worksheet
  17. Rhyme Gumballs: Dab-a-Dot Rhyming Words Worksheet
  18. Rhyme Planets: Dab-a-Dot Rhyming Words Worksheet
  19. Rhyme Time: Write Three Rhyming Words Worksheet
  20. Rhyme Hunt: Write Three Rhyming Words Worksheet
  21. Rhyme Detective: Write Rhyming Words Worksheet
01

Rhyme Chase: Coloring Rhyming Words Worksheet

Listening · 15 minutes · Kindergarten
Rhyme Chase: Coloring Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Five rows of pictures and not a single printed word. Moon against sun, cloud and spoon. Box against bear, fox and bag. The child colors the one that rhymes.

Why it starts here A child can hear a rhyme a year before they can read one. Starting with a page that needs no reading tells you whether the ear is ready, which is the only thing worth knowing before anything else on this list.
02

Rhyme Time: Color the Rhyming Words Worksheet

Listening · 15 minutes · Kindergarten
Rhyme Time: Color the Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

The same idea with an owl and a scalloped border: star against leaf, car and bell, then bee, clock, snake and goat. Every answer is a word a five year old says every day.

Best for The friendliest of the picture pages. Large shapes, obvious names, no vocabulary traps. Good as a second pass on the same day.
03

Rhyme Hunt: Color the Match Rhyming Words Worksheet

Listening · 15 minutes · Kindergarten
Rhyme Hunt: Color the Match Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Ladybug, snail, dog, king and bell, each against three pictures to choose from. Still nothing to read.

Watch for The first row is drawn as a ladybug but the rhyme wants bug, and the king row puts a crown right next to the ring. Name the pictures out loud together before starting and both stop being problems.
04

Rhyme Party: Picture Rhyming Words Worksheet

Listening · 15 minutes · Kindergarten
Rhyme Party: Picture Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Mouse, chair, whale, train and crown. The bucket has to be called a pail and the dress has to be called a gown, or two of the five rows have no answer.

Why it is last of the four The rhyming here is no harder than the pages above it, but the naming is. It is a genuinely useful vocabulary page once the sound work is easy.
05

Circle the Picture: Rhyming Words Worksheet

Reading in · 15 minutes · Kindergarten
Circle the Picture: Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

The first page with printed words. Jar, mop, net, cake, mug, pin, nut and rope, each beside three labeled pictures to circle between.

Why it works Every picture is labeled, so the page works whether the child is reading the words or listening to you read them. That makes it the natural bridge out of the picture-only pages.
06

Find the Rhyme: Picture Rhyming Words Worksheet

Reading in · 15 minutes · Kindergarten
Find the Rhyme: Picture Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Bell, chick, sun, goat, bag, hen, whale and pig, same eight-row layout, plainer type. The instruction line says ends with the same sound, which is the phrase worth repeating.

Best for Whale and snail on row seven is the moment the idea lands for a lot of children: the two words look nothing alike written down and rhyme perfectly out loud.
07

Do These Words Rhyme? Yes/No Rhyming Words Worksheet

Judging · 10 minutes · Kindergarten
Do These Words Rhyme? Yes/No Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Eight pairs and a yes or no box for each: bag and tag, nose and rose, milk and truck, corn and horn. Four rhyme.

Why the format changes here Up to now the right answer has been sitting in the row waiting to be found. A yes-or-no page removes it, so the child has to hold both words and compare. This is the gentlest one to start that with.
08

Picture Pairs Yes or No Rhyming Words Worksheet

Judging · 10 minutes · Kindergarten
Picture Pairs Yes or No Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Kite and light, spoon and moon, glove and bicycle, chain and train, comb and pencil, basket and owl, wheel and seal, tent and carrot.

Why it works Kite and light share no letters at the end and rhyme anyway. It is the clearest example on the site of why rhyming is about sound and not spelling.
09

Rhyme or No Rhyme? Yes/No Rhyming Words Worksheet

Judging · 10 minutes · Kindergarten
Rhyme or No Rhyme? Yes/No Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

King and swing, lock and sock, nail and cheese, chair and pear, brush and lemon, broom and turtle, cane and plane, purse and melon.

Best for The four non-rhyming pairs are miles apart on purpose. A child who is guessing yes to everything gets caught immediately, which is more useful than a page they can bluff.
10

Thumbs Up or Down: Rhyming Words Worksheet

Judging · 10 minutes · Kindergarten
Thumbs Up or Down: Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

The same decision with a robot and a thumbs up or thumbs down to color instead of a box to tick. Bug and rug, moon and star, sun and bun, bee and tree.

Why it works Coloring an answer is less final than ticking one, and it gives a hesitant child something to do with their hands while they think it through.
11

Listen for the Rhyme: Thumbs Rhyming Words Worksheet

Judging · 10 minutes · Kindergarten
Listen for the Rhyme: Thumbs Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Eight more thumb rows: sock and bird, bell and shell, goat and coat, ring and cloud, snail and whale, fan and drum, crown and spoon, pig and wig.

Say it, do not scan it Goat and coat trips up children who are reading rather than listening, because the words start differently. Reading the pairs aloud is the whole point of this one.
12

Space Yes or No: Rhyming Words Coloring Worksheet

Judging · 15 minutes · Kindergarten
Space Yes or No: Rhyming Words Coloring Worksheet worksheet preview

A rocket trail loops through eight numbered planets, each with a pair to judge and a YES or NO bubble to color, and a box at the bottom asking how many pairs rhyme.

Why it closes this section The count at the end is a built-in answer key. The total is four, so a child who lands on three or five knows a planet is wrong and gets to go find it themselves.
13

Circle the Word: CVC Rhyming Words Worksheet

Words only · 15 minutes · Kindergarten
Circle the Word: CVC Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

No pictures at all now. Eight anchors, four written choices each: bug, hen, bed, pig, hop, bat, duck and net.

Why it matters This is where you find out whether rhyming has moved from the ear to the page. The distractors share a first letter or a vowel rather than an ending, so guessing by shape does not get anyone through it.
14

Which Word Rhymes? Rhyming Words Worksheet

Words only · 15 minutes · Kindergarten
Which Word Rhymes? Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Van, lip, log, bun, pot, well, cake and sing, four choices each, on a purple polka-dot page with a frog and a snail.

The step up The last three rows leave three-letter words behind for a double consonant, a silent e and an ng ending. Everything before them stays simple, so the page ramps instead of starting hard.
15

Find the Rhyming Word: Grade 1 Rhyming Words Worksheet

Words only · 15 minutes · Grade 1
Find the Rhyming Word: Grade 1 Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Map, sit, tub, ham, then hill, sock, hand and ball. Black and white, gingham border, no pictures.

Why this one is first grade The back half needs a double l, a ck ending and an nd blend. Reading hand and sand accurately is a different job from reading cat and hat, so it is filed a grade up rather than squeezed into kindergarten.
16

Pop the Rhymes: Dab-a-Dot Rhyming Words Worksheet

Find them all · 20 minutes · Grade 1
Pop the Rhymes: Dab-a-Dot Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Four bubble panels around pig, hop, bug and pen. Every bubble that rhymes gets dabbed or colored, twenty five of them in total, and the sheet never says how many.

Why the format changes again Circling one right answer and finding every right answer are different skills. Not being told the count is what stops a child stopping at the first one they spot.
17

Rhyme Gumballs: Dab-a-Dot Rhyming Words Worksheet

Find them all · 20 minutes · Grade 1
Rhyme Gumballs: Dab-a-Dot Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

The same game in a gumball machine: cat, pan, hot and lip, twenty six answers hidden among distractors.

Why it works Flat, plan, spot, trot, ship and chip mean a child cannot just look for three-letter words that end the same. Blends have to be read properly to be sorted.
18

Rhyme Planets: Dab-a-Dot Rhyming Words Worksheet

Find them all · 20 minutes · Grade 1
Rhyme Planets: Dab-a-Dot Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Bed, sun, cap and sit, twenty four answers, and the heaviest blend load of the three: sled, shed, spun, stun, clap, snap, trap and split.

Best for The one to do third. If the gumball page went smoothly this is the next rung; if blends are still new, go back to the bubbles instead.
19

Rhyme Time: Write Three Rhyming Words Worksheet

Write your own · 20 minutes · Grade 1
Rhyme Time: Write Three Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Eight prompts, three blank lines each, nothing to choose between: hop, bug, pen, sad, pig, run, cap and net.

Why it is harder than it looks Producing a rhyme is a much bigger ask than recognising one. Every prompt here has a deep family behind it, so a stuck child can be nudged with try the alphabet and will find three within a few letters.
20

Rhyme Hunt: Write Three Rhyming Words Worksheet

Write your own · 20 minutes · Grade 1
Rhyme Hunt: Write Three Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Ham, lip, log, nest, tub, sock, gum and kid, three blanks each, with a fox in the corner.

Watch for Nest is the prompt that stalls people. Best, rest, vest and west are all sitting there, but a child has to go hunting for them. Accept nonsense words on the first pass if the sound is right.
21

Rhyme Detective: Write Rhyming Words Worksheet

Write your own · 20 minutes · Grade 1
Rhyme Detective: Write Rhyming Words Worksheet worksheet preview

Fish, bell, duck, sand, king, moon, cake and tree. The last page in the set and the hardest.

Why it finishes here These families are narrow and most need a blend or a digraph to answer at all. Fish takes dish, wish and swish and very little else. Doing the first two prompts together out loud is entirely fair.

One more thing.

If your kids finish a unit and you're not sure what to do next, my honest advice: don't move on yet. Spend a week mixing these in as warm-ups. Fluency isn't a unit, it's a habit, and the sheet that builds it is usually the one they ask to do again.

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