Term pack

Year 5 English

Name: ________________________

Skills in this pack

Homophones
Articles by sound and sense
In, on and at for time
Modal verbs
Suffixes and word building
Reading and putting events in order
A letter to a friend

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Year 5 English · 1 of 7

Homophones

Choose the right word when two words sound the same.

1.Which word sounds like 'pair' but is a fruit?
2.Choose the right word: We walked ____ the tunnel.
- a) thorough
- b) threw
- c) though
- d) through
3.Which word sounds like 'flour' but means a plant's bloom?
4.Choose the right word: Please write ____ name here.
- a) yours
- b) your
- c) you're
- d) yore
5.Choose the right word: ____ going to be late.
- a) Theirs
- b) They're
- c) Their
- d) There
6.Choose the right word: The dog wagged ____ tail.
- a) it's
- b) it is
- c) its'
- d) its
7.Which word sounds like 'won' but is a number?
8.Choose the right word: I can't wait to ____ you.
- a) see
- b) seas
- c) sea
- d) seen

Homophones · Year 5 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 5 English · 2 of 7

Articles by sound and sense

Choose between a and an by the sound that follows, and use the when you mean a particular one.

1.Write "a" or "an": We waited for ____ hour at the station.
2.Write "a" or "an": My grandfather is ____ honest man.
3.Sort each noun by the word that goes in front of it.
Groups: a · an
- umbrella
- tiger
- hour
- book
- university
- apple
4.Which one is correct?
- a) a inkpot
- b) a ink pot
- c) an ink pot
- d) an inks pot
5.Why does "university" take "a" and not "an"?
- a) because it names a place
- b) because it begins with a y sound, not a vowel sound
- c) because it is a long word
- d) because it begins with a consonant letter
6.Sort each sentence by the word its gap needs.
Groups: a or an · the
- One day, ____ elephant walked into the village.
- ____ sun rose just after six.
- ____ moon was full last night.
- He heard ____ strange sound outside.
- There was ____ pencil lying on the desk.
- Please shut ____ door behind you.
7.Write "a" or "an": She studies at ____ university near her home.
8.Pair each sentence beginning with the ending that finishes it sensibly.
- For lunch I ate
- On the way home she bought
- At the gate he waited
- Last winter they visited
- an hour
- an orange
- a notebook
- a museum

Articles by sound and sense · Year 5 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 5 English · 3 of 7

In, on and at for time

Choose in, on or at to say when something happens.

1.Write the missing word: My birthday is ____ March.
2.Which phrase is written correctly?
- a) on Friday
- b) at Friday
- c) of Friday
- d) in Friday
3.Pair each kind of time with an example of it.
- a month
- a day of the week
- a clock time
- a year
- a part of the day
- on Tuesday
- in the afternoon
- in April
- at nine o'clock
- in 2019
4.Put these time phrases in order, from the shortest stretch of time to the longest.
- in September
- in the morning
- in 2020
- at eight o'clock
- on Sunday
5.Sort each time phrase by the word it needs in front of it.
Groups: in · on · at
- Friday evening
- the morning
- six o'clock
- June
- midnight
- Monday
6.Which word goes with a year, such as 1947?
- a) on
- b) for
- c) at
- d) in
7.Write the missing word: The race begins ____ ten o'clock sharp.
8.We have our sports day ____ Wednesday.
- a) of
- b) in
- c) on
- d) at

In, on and at for time · Year 5 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 5 English · 4 of 7

Modal verbs

Choose the modal verb that carries the right meaning — ability, permission, obligation, advice or possibility.

1.It is the law: every rider ____ wear a helmet.
- a) might
- b) can
- c) may
- d) must
2.Write one modal verb: I am not sure, but it ____ rain this evening.
3.Write one modal verb: When she was five, she ____ already swim well.
4.Which sentence asks for permission?
- a) May I sit here?
- b) Can you lift this box?
- c) I might sit here.
- d) You must sit here.
5.Ravi is only six, but he ____ already read long stories.
- a) should
- b) would
- c) must
- d) can
6.Match each modal verb to the meaning it carries.
- can
- could
- must
- should
- may
- might
- being able to do something in the past
- having no choice about something
- the wise or right thing to do
- being allowed to do something
- being able to do something now
- something that is only possible
7.Write the modal that shows there is no choice at all: Visitors ____ sign the register before entering.
8.Which sentence gives advice?
- a) You must park here.
- b) You can park here.
- c) You should park closer to the gate.
- d) You might park here.

Modal verbs · Year 5 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 5 English · 5 of 7

Suffixes and word building

Build a new word by adding a suffix, and get the spelling right when the base word changes.

1.Sort each word by what its ending tells you.
Groups: Full of it · Without it
- painful
- hopeless
- harmless
- hopeful
- harmful
- painless
2.Add the ending -er to "write" and write the word for the person who does it.
3.Match each base word to the word built from it.
- teach
- kind
- enjoy
- care
- use
- quick
- kindness
- useless
- enjoyment
- teacher
- quickly
- careful
4.Add -ed to "stop". Which spelling is right?
- a) stoped
- b) stopeed
- c) stoppd
- d) stopped
5.Add the ending -ness to "happy" and write the new word.
6.Put these steps in order to add -ed to the word "carry".
- Look at the last letter of "carry": it is y.
- So change the y into i, which leaves "carri".
- Now add -ed on the end to make "carried".
- Check the letter just before that y: it is r, a consonant.
7.Which ending turns "dark" into a word meaning the state of being dark?
- a) -less
- b) -ful
- c) -ly
- d) -ness
8.Which beginning turns "happy" into its opposite?
- a) un-
- b) mis-
- c) re-
- d) pre-

Suffixes and word building · Year 5 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 5 English · 6 of 7

Reading and putting events in order

Answer questions about a short passage and put what happened back into the order the passage gives.

1.In the kite passage, what did Nila fetch from the shed? Answer in one or two words.
2.Read this passage. "A tailorbird builds a nest most people walk straight past. It chooses one large green leaf and pierces small holes along its edges with its beak. Then it draws the edges together, stitching them with plant fibre. Inside the pocket it has made, it lays a soft lining of grass. From the path, the nest looks like nothing but a folded leaf." Why do people walk past the nest without noticing it?
- a) It looks like a folded leaf.
- b) It is smaller than a coin.
- c) It is built very high up.
- d) It is only built at night.
3.Read this passage. "On Sunday Nila found a kite tangled in the neem tree outside her house. She fetched a long bamboo pole from the shed and lifted the kite free. The paper was torn, so she carried it inside and mended it with glue and a strip of newspaper. By evening the kite was flying again, higher than the rooftops." Pair each question with its answer.
- Where was the kite stuck?
- What did Nila use to reach it?
- What was wrong with the kite?
- When was it flying again?
- a long bamboo pole
- by evening
- in the neem tree
- the paper was torn
4.In the tailorbird passage, which word means the same as "pierces"?
- a) paints
- b) carries away
- c) folds over
- d) makes holes in
5.Read this passage. "On Sunday Nila found a kite tangled in the neem tree outside her house. She fetched a long bamboo pole from the shed and lifted the kite free. The paper was torn, so she carried it inside and mended it with glue and a strip of newspaper. By evening the kite was flying again, higher than the rooftops." Sort each statement by whether the passage says it.
Groups: The passage says this · The passage does not say this
- Nila bought a new kite from the market.
- The kite was tangled in a neem tree.
- The paper of the kite was torn.
- The kite was flying again by evening.
- Nila reached the kite with a bamboo pole.
- The kite belonged to Nila's brother.
6.In the kite passage, what did Nila do straight after she lifted the kite free?
- a) She flew it above the rooftops.
- b) She carried it inside and mended it.
- c) She climbed the neem tree.
- d) She fetched a bamboo pole.
7.Which sentence best gives the main idea of the kite passage?
- a) Kites are made of paper and string.
- b) Bamboo poles are useful in a garden.
- c) Nila lives next to a neem tree.
- d) Nila found a damaged kite and got it flying again.
8.Read this passage. "A tailorbird builds a nest most people walk straight past. It chooses one large green leaf and pierces small holes along its edges with its beak. Then it draws the edges together, stitching them with plant fibre. Inside the pocket it has made, it lays a soft lining of grass. From the path, the nest looks like nothing but a folded leaf." Put the steps in the order the passage gives them.
- It stitches the edges together with plant fibre.
- It lays a soft lining of grass inside.
- The bird chooses one large green leaf.
- It pierces small holes along the edges.

Reading and putting events in order · Year 5 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Year 5 English · 7 of 7

A letter to a friend

Lay out a short friendly letter and choose the greeting, the news and the closing that belong in it.

Before you start

Here is the shape of a friendly letter with nothing written in it yet. Each block is one of the five parts, and finding out which is which is the point.

1. The date
2. The greeting
3. The body, where your news goes
4. The closing
5. Your name

Notice how much of the page the body takes. The other four parts are one line each — the letter is the news, and the rest is just the frame around it.

1.Pair each part of a letter with the job it does.
- the date
- the greeting
- the body
- the closing
- carries your news
- signs off just before your name
- names the person you are writing to
- says when you wrote it
2.Sort each line by the kind of letter it belongs in.
Groups: A letter to a friend · A letter to someone you do not know
- I am writing to request a copy of the form.
- Your friend,
- Guess what happened at the ground yesterday!
- Dear Ravi,
- Dear Sir,
- Yours sincerely,
3.Which sentence belongs in the body of a letter to a friend?
- a) We went to the river on Sunday and caught two fish.
- b) Kindly acknowledge receipt of this letter.
- c) Please find the details listed below.
- d) I enclose the completed application form.
4.Where does your own name go in a friendly letter?
- a) under the closing, at the end
- b) straight after the greeting
- c) in the middle of the news
- d) at the very top
5.This is the shape of a letter to a friend. Tap the part where the greeting goes.
Write the number of the part.
6.Which question would you ask a friend near the end of a letter?
- a) Will you write back and tell me about your new school?
- b) May I request an early reply to this matter?
- c) Would you kindly confirm the above details?
- d) Is the said document enclosed herewith?
7.Put the parts of a friendly letter in the order they appear on the page, from top to bottom.
- Your friend,
- Dear Anya,
- Sameer
- The date
- Your news and your questions
8.Sort each line by where it belongs in a friendly letter.
Groups: The greeting · The closing
- Dear Nani,
- Dear Ravi,
- Your friend,
- With love,
- Dear Sameer,
- Yours affectionately,

A letter to a friend · Year 5 English · www.arenapublications.com/learn

Answer keys — Year 5 English

In the same order as the worksheets.