Unlocking Words: An Introduction to Morphemes
This worksheet introduces grade 9 students to morphemes, their types, and how they contribute to word meaning and structure, aligning with ELA language standards.
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Unlocking Words: An Introduction to Morphemes
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Read each question carefully and follow the instructions to demonstrate your understanding of morphemes.
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in a language. It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts. Morphemes can be words themselves (free morphemes) or parts of words that carry meaning (bound morphemes). Bound morphemes include prefixes (e.g., 'un-', 're-') and suffixes (e.g., '-ing', '-ed', '-tion'). Understanding morphemes helps us decode unfamiliar words and build our vocabulary.
1. Which of the following words contains two morphemes?
Elephant
Running
Beautiful
Quickly
2. Break down the word "unbreakable" into its individual morphemes: , , .
3. The prefix "re-" in "rewrite" means to something.
4. All morphemes can stand alone as words.
True
False
5. Explain the difference between a free morpheme and a bound morpheme, providing an example for each.
Match each prefix/suffix with its correct meaning.
6. "Pre-"
a. Again
7. "-less"
b. Before
8. "Re-"
c. Without
Use the morphemes below to create three new words, then define each word.
9. New Word 1: , Definition:
10. New Word 2: , Definition:
11. New Word 3: , Definition: