Language & Literature · Unit 2
Words and Meanings
Naming words, action words and opposites
Before grammar has names, words already do different jobs, and noticing the jobs is what makes the naming useful later.
The unit covers naming words, action words, describing words, opposites, and word families.
This unit breaks down into 19 short steps and 111 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 2. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.
- Steps
- 19
- Questions
- 111
- Difficulty
- 1-2
What this unit covers
- Opposites
- Action Words
- Naming Words
- Describing Words
- Word Families
Where this fits
Follows Letters and Sounds. Parts of Speech gives these jobs their formal names.
Where people slip
The same word can do different jobs in different sentences. Run is an action in one and a thing in another, which is why the job matters more than the word.
How the unit is structured
Words and Meanings runs as 19 short steps that unlock in order. 14 are practice rounds and 5 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 2 as you progress.
Challenge rounds
Example questions
30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 111 in the unit altogether.
Action Words
- Build the sentenceLevel 1
1. Build a sentence with an action word.
Answer: The fish swims fast
Swims is the action word showing what the fish does.
- Fact or fibLevel 1
2. The word "chair" is an action word.
Answer: False
Chair names a thing, so it is not an action word.
- Match the pairsLevel 1
3. Match each animal to its action word.
Answer: bird = fly; fish = swim; frog = hop; snake = slither
Different animals often do different actions.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
4. Which of these are action words? Pick all that apply.
- hopcorrect
- swimcorrect
- tree
- soft
'Hop' and 'swim' show actions, while 'tree' and 'soft' do not.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
5. The word that tells what you do is called an ____ word.
- actioncorrect
- naming
- describing
- opposite
A word that tells what someone does is called an action word.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
6. Which word tells what a bird does in the sky?
- flycorrect
- red
- tree
- soft
'Fly' is an action word that tells us what a bird does.
Describing Words
- Build the sentenceLevel 1
7. Build a correct sentence using describing words.
Answer: The big red ball rolled away
'Big' and 'red' are the describing words that tell us more about the ball.
- Choose all that applyLevel 1
8. Which of these are describing words? Pick all that apply.
- bigcorrect
- greencorrect
- jump
- table
Big and green describe things, while jump and table do not.
- Fact or fibLevel 1
9. 'Jump' is a describing word.
Answer: False
'Jump' shows an action, so it is an action word, not a describing word.
- Fill the blankLevel 1
10. The big, ____ balloon floated into the sky.
- redcorrect
- jump
- table
- quickly
Red is a describing word that tells us the color of the balloon.
- Match the pairsLevel 2
11. Match each naming word to a describing word that fits it.
Answer: sun = hot; snow = cold; lemon = sour; honey = sweet
Describing words often match how a thing looks, feels, or tastes.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
12. Which word describes how a lemon tastes?
- sourcorrect
- jump
- table
- walk
'Sour' is a describing word that tells us about the taste of a lemon.
Naming Words
- Build the sentenceLevel 1
13. Build a sentence using a naming word.
Answer: The dog ran fast
Dog is the naming word in this simple sentence.
- Choose all that applyLevel 1
14. Which of these are naming words? Pick all that apply.
- ballcorrect
- teachercorrect
- run
- blue
Ball and teacher name things and people, while run and blue do not.
- Match the pairsLevel 1
15. Match each naming word to what it names.
Answer: doctor = a person; park = a place; rabbit = an animal; book = a thing
Naming words can name people, places, or animals.
- Fact or fibLevel 2
16. 'Happy' is a naming word for a person, place, or thing.
Answer: False
'Happy' describes a feeling, so it is a describing word, not a naming word.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
17. A word that names a person, place, animal, or thing is called a ____.
- nouncorrect
- verb
- adjective
- pronoun
Words that name people, places, animals, or things are called naming words.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
18. Which word is a naming word for a place where children learn?
- schoolcorrect
- run
- happy
- quickly
A naming word (noun) names a person, place, or thing, and 'school' names a place.
Opposites
- Build the sentenceLevel 1
19. Build a sentence about opposites.
Answer: The cup is full
Full and empty are opposite words describing the cup.
- Fact or fibLevel 1
20. The opposite of "big" is "tall".
Answer: False
The opposite of big is small, not tall.
- Match the pairsLevel 1
21. Match each word to its opposite.
Answer: fast = slow; open = closed; big = small; day = night
Opposite words mean the reverse of one another.
- Choose all that applyLevel 2
22. Which pairs show opposites? Pick all that apply.
- hot and coldcorrect
- big and smallcorrect
- cat and dog
- run and jump
'Hot and cold' and 'big and small' are pairs of opposites because each pair means completely different things.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
23. The opposite of 'fast' is ____.
- slowcorrect
- quick
- fast
- run
'Slow' means the opposite of 'fast'.
- Guess the numberLevel 2
24. How many pairs of opposites are shown here: hot and cold, big and small, up and down?
Answer: 3 pairs
There are three pairs of opposites listed: hot and cold, big and small, and up and down.
Word Families
- Build the sentenceLevel 1
25. Build a sentence using two words from the -en word family.
Answer: The hen sat near the pen
Hen and pen both belong to the -en word family.
- Guess the numberLevel 1
26. How many words are in this word family list: cat, bat, mat, hat, rat?
Answer: 5 words
There are five words listed in the -at word family.
- Match the pairsLevel 1
27. Match each word to another word in the same word family.
Answer: pig = big; sun = fun; hen = ten; top = hop
Word families share the same ending sound and letters.
- Fact or fibLevel 2
28. 'Bat' and 'cat' are in the same word family.
Answer: True
Both words rhyme and end in the same 'at' sound, so they share a word family.
- Fill the blankLevel 2
29. The words sun, fun and run all belong to the same word ____.
- familycorrect
- color
- action
- name
Words that rhyme and share an ending, like sun, fun and run, belong to the same word family.
- Multiple choiceLevel 2
30. Which word belongs to the same word family as 'cake'?
- lakecorrect
- cat
- sit
- top
'Lake' shares the '-ake' ending with 'cake', so they are in the same word family.
Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.
How you practise
This unit mixes 14 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.
- Build the sentence
- Choose all that apply
- Fact or fib
- Fill the blank
- Guess the number
- Match the pairs
- Multiple choice
- Odd one out
- Picture question
- Put in order
- Sort into groups
- Spell it
- True or false
- Type the answer
Practise Words and Meanings
111 questions across 19 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.
Play this unitRead about Words and Meanings
Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.
More units in Language & Literature
- Letters and SoundsThe alphabet, letter sounds, rhyme and syllables
- SentencesBuilding a sentence that makes sense
- Reading a StoryCharacters, setting and what happens next
- Spelling and Word BuildingSpelling patterns, plurals, prefixes and suffixes
- Parts of SpeechNouns, verbs, adjectives and the rest of the toolkit
- PunctuationCommas, apostrophes and the marks that shape meaning
- Building VocabularySynonyms, homophones, roots and context clues
- Story ElementsPlot, character, setting, conflict and theme