Rhyming Words
Kindergarten · English · Study Guide
Learn how to find words that end with the same sound.
Have you ever heard a song or poem that sounds bouncy and fun? That bouncy feeling often comes from rhyming words! Two words rhyme when they end with the same sound. 'Cat' and 'hat' rhyme because they both end in the sound '-at.' 'Dog' and 'log' rhyme because they both end in '-og.'
Here is a trick to find rhyming words: say both words out loud and listen to the ending. 'Sun' and 'run' — hear that '-un' sound at the end of both? They rhyme! 'Cake' and 'lake' both end in '-ake,' so they rhyme too.
Rhyming words are everywhere in nursery rhymes and stories. 'Jack and Jill went up the hill' — 'Jill' and 'hill' rhyme! 'Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall' — 'wall' and 'fall' rhyme.
You can make your own rhymes too. Think of a word, like 'hop.' Now try to find as many rhyming words as you can: top, pop, mop, stop! When you practice rhyming, you are training your ears to hear how words are built, and that helps you become a strong reader.
| Word 1 | Word 2 | Shared Ending |
|---|---|---|
| cat | hat | -at |
| dog | log | -og |
| sun | run | -un |
| cake | lake | -ake |
| hop | top | -op |
Key terms
- rhyme
- When two or more words end with the same sound
- ending sound
- The sound you hear at the end of a word
- word family
- A group of words that all share the same ending sound, like cat, bat, hat
Flashcards
- cat / hat
- These words rhyme — they both end in the -at sound
- dog / log
- These words rhyme — they both end in the -og sound
- sun / run
- These words rhyme — they both end in the -un sound
- cake / lake
- These words rhyme — they both end in the -ake sound
- hop / top
- These words rhyme — they both end in the -op sound
- rhyme
- Words that end with the same sound
Practice questions
Which word rhymes with 'cat'?
- dog
- hat
- sun
- big
Show answer
Answer: hat
Cat and hat both end in the -at sound, making them a rhyming pair.
'Hop' and 'mop' are rhyming words.
Show answer
Answer: True
Hop and mop both end in the -op sound, so they rhyme.
'Sun' and '___ ' rhyme because they both end in the sound -un.
Show answer
Answer: run
Sun and run both end in the -un sound, making them rhyme.
Which pair of words rhymes?
- big and bad
- cake and lake
- dog and cat
- red and blue
Show answer
Answer: cake and lake
Cake and lake both end in the -ake sound. The other pairs do not share ending sounds.
'Ball' and 'bell' are rhyming words.
Show answer
Answer: False
Ball ends in -all and bell ends in -ell. Different ending sounds mean they do not rhyme.
Fun facts
- The word 'orange' has almost no common rhyming words in English — poets have been trying to find one for hundreds of years!
- Babies learn to love rhymes before they can even talk — it helps their brains learn language faster.
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