Unlocking Words: Morphemes Worksheet

Unlocking Words: Morphemes Worksheet

Read each question carefully and follow the instructions. This worksheet will help you understand morphemes: the smallest units of meaning in words.

Understanding Morphemes

Have you ever wondered how new words are made, or how one word can have so many different forms? The secret is morphemes! A morpheme is the smallest part of a word that has meaning. It can be a whole word by itself, like 'cat' or 'run'. These are called root words or base words. But morphemes can also be pieces that we add to root words, like prefixes and suffixes. A prefix comes at the beginning of a word and changes its meaning. For example, 'un-' in 'unhappy' means 'not'. A suffix comes at the end of a word and can change its meaning or its part of speech. For instance, '-ful' in 'helpful' means 'full of'. By learning about morphemes, you can become a word detective and unlock the meaning of many new and unfamiliar words!

Match each morpheme on the left with its correct meaning on the right.

Complete each sentence by identifying the type of morpheme described.

1. A   comes at the beginning of a word and changes its meaning.

2. A   comes at the end of a word and can change its meaning or part of speech.

3. A   word is a morpheme that can stand alone as a complete word.

For each word, write the root word, prefix (if any), and suffix (if any).

1. Which part of the word 'disagree' means 'not'?

2. In the word 'colorful', what does the suffix '-ful' mean?

Read each statement and circle True or False.

1. A morpheme is always a complete word.

2. Adding a prefix can change the meaning of a root word.

Add a prefix or suffix to the root word to create a new word. Then, write the meaning of your new word.