1,314 FREE Reading Comprehension Worksheets, Games and Tests
BusyTeacher Home » Reading Comprehension

FREE Reading Comprehension Worksheets

Reading is a very important part of learning a language. It's considered a receptive skill, otherwise known as a passive skill, which means that students don’t necessarily have to produce language - just receive it. But more often than not, students have difficulty reading because of vocabulary and/or the context involved. BusyTeacher.org offers 1,314 reading comprehension worksheets that are sure to help your students stay engaged in their reading, by providing interesting stories and effective exercises.

We as teachers don’t always have the time to make up our own stories, or go through books to pick out excerpts to present in our lessons. The reading worksheets on BusyTeacher.org offer a variety of different stories and texts in different categories and genres to help your students improve their reading ability and learn the language, all the while enjoying the stories they're reading. Depending on what you're aiming to teach, you can use these worksheets in a whole variety of different ways in the classroom. If a worksheet has a story that contains dialogue, you could assign roles to students and have them act out what the characters say. You can also use the stories on the worksheets to create comprehension questions. Some worksheets can even make for classroom discussion topics. After reading a passage, you can present a question to students, and ask them to give their opinions of where the story is going. These are just some of the many things you can do to make use of these worksheets in the classroom.

Whether you're teaching scanning, skimming, critical thinking, or reading for gist, BusyTeacher.org has the worksheet(s) you need for your lessons. There are worksheets on just about any topic you can think of - sports, business, history, and holidays to name a few. Another handy feature on BusyTeacher.org is that each worksheet has the level shown in the description, which makes it easy for you to find an appropriate worksheet for your students. The thumbnail can be opened to full page view, so you can check if the worksheet is right for your lesson. Some worksheets you'll find here are appropriate for several - or even for all levels, which means they're reusable for a future lessons with students at different levels.

No registration or subscription is necessary to download our worksheets. They’re all free to download, copy, and use in your lessons. Plus, all of them were created and uploaded by fellow ESL teachers from all around the globe, and have helped other ESL teachers in their lessons. In addition, if you have a worksheet you've created and would like to submit it to this site, you can do so by clicking the “Submit a worksheet” link at the bottom of this page. Join thousands of other ESL teachers using BusyTeacher.org, and bookmark us as your number-one stop for worksheets to use in your lessons daily! With 1,314 reading worksheets, planning your lessons has never been easier. Get started by checking out the most popular worksheets below. Try downloading one and using it in your lesson today!

Filter by Level
NEW
  • Complete Beginner (84)
  • Elementary (604)
  • Pre-Intermediate (473)
  • Intermediate (521)
  • Upper-Intermediate Advanced (330)
  • Exam Level (103)
  • Suitable for All Levels (20)
Clear filters
Filter
Dramatically improve the way you teach:




Make A Word Search:

Create awesome-looking custom word searches in seconds!

Make A Word Scramble:

Instantly create custom word/sentence scrambles for your class!

Make A Double Puzzle:

Generate double puzzles your students will love - hours of fun!

ESL Articles
Rate this Category
4.1 out of 5, rated by 53 teachers




Sort by: Most Recent | Most Viewed | Rating
Tic Tac Toe Elementary Test

Tic Tac Toe Elementary Test

Reading Comprehension
I attended a course a few weeks ago about how to tailor our students’ needs and abilities when preparing a test, and this suggestion caught my interest. The test is displayed on a tic-tac-to ...
4 Views 6,259 Elem
The Colossus of Rhodes

The Colossus of Rhodes

, , Reading Comprehension
The ws is about The Colossus of Rhodes - one of the world wonders. The rhyme is taken from the net. Students will compare 2 statues, do a quizz, put the verbs in the correct form, solve the crossw ...
7 Views 8,163 Pre-IntInt
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Reading Comprehension
It's about the hanging gardens of Babylon with the text and some exercises. Thr rhyme is taken from the net. Hangigng gardens is one of the world ancient wonders. Students read the text and t ...
4 Views 8,309 Pre-IntInt
An Introduction to the Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

An Introduction to the Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

Reading Comprehension
This presentation introduces students to the main themes, context and characters of The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde. Ideal for students who have read the book but not yet begun to study it as ...
7 Views 14,895 IntAdvExam
An Introduction to Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

An Introduction to Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift

Reading Comprehension
This presentation introduces students to the main themes, context and characters of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. Ideal for students who have read the book but not yet begun to study it as ...
3 Views 8,048 IntAdvExam
Put BusyTeacher in your inbox

Sign up for the BusyTeacher Weekly and be the first to get direct links to our latest teaching articles, worksheets and lesson plans. Goes out to 323,134 subscribers every Wednesday.
See last week's issue.

An Introduction to Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

An Introduction to Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne

Reading Comprehension
This presentation introduces students to Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. It gives them an outline of the context, key themes and other issues regarding the novel. It would be best ...
1 Views 5,480 IntAdvExam
Danger in Cyberspace Reading Worksheet

Danger in Cyberspace Reading Worksheet

, Reading Comprehension
This is a reading test for intermediate students who are asked to read the text, say who or what do the words refer to, go through the text and find words or expressions that mean the same as the ...
9 Views 23,137 Pre-IntInt
English Language Reading Worksheet

English Language Reading Worksheet

Reading Comprehension
This is a reading test for intermediate level. Students are asked to match the paragraphs and the headlines,decide whether the statements are true or false, find in the text words that mean the s ...
7 Views 12,073 Int
An Introduction to Sherlock Holmes

An Introduction to Sherlock Holmes

, , Reading Comprehension
A relatively detailed presentation that introduces students to Arthur Conan Doyle and the stories of Sherlock Holmes. Contains background information about the author, context, genre, main charact ...
7 Views 20,054 IntAdvExam
Reading for Beginners

Reading for Beginners

Reading Comprehension
This worksheet helps a beginner to recognize the short vowels. It also assists the student in completing words and understanding the meaning of the vowel in the word. A beginner can try and r ...
3 Views 11,725 Beg
Taste and Other Tales - Mini Test (Mrs. Bixby and a Swim)

Taste and Other Tales - Mini Test (Mrs. Bixby and a Swim)

Reading Comprehension
I realised I had been downloading files from this amazing website for a long time and I hadn't contributed in any way in exchange. In this case, I made this mini test on "Mrs. Bixby and the ...
1 Views 12,966 IntAdvExam
Cyber Love Reading Test

Cyber Love Reading Test

, , Reading Comprehension
This is a reading test for intermediate students who are asked to read the text, go through the text and find words or expressions that mean the same as words given, complete the sentences with in ...
5 Views 17,507 Pre-IntInt
Reading- Payachatas

Reading- Payachatas

Reading Comprehension
This worksheet contains a text about the inca legend of the "payachatas". Item I, use the vocabulary given to fill in the blanks in the text. Item II, what's the message of the story?  Item I ...
3 Views 6,741 Pre-Int
Cloze Exercise - Teeth and Eating

Cloze Exercise - Teeth and Eating

, Reading Comprehension
This cloze activity can be used as an extra resource when teaching students about teeth and eating. There are 10 sentences to complete. Students read the sentences and fill in the missing words fr ...
8 Views 20,051 Elem
Reading Comprehension - Sun Bear

Reading Comprehension - Sun Bear

, Reading Comprehension
This reading comprehension includes some interesting facts about the sun bear. Did you know that the sun bear is the smallest member of the bear family? Students read through the article and answe ...
9 Views 14,741 Elem
Reading Comprehension - Ollie the Octopus

Reading Comprehension - Ollie the Octopus

, Reading Comprehension
This short reading comprehension includes some interesting facts about Ollie the Octopus. My name is Ollie. I am an octopus. I have a very large head. Do you know how many arms I have? I have eigh ...
10 Views 13,777 Elem
Movie Worksheet: Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address

Movie Worksheet: Abraham Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address

This is a multi-skill lesson plan incorporating reading, speaking, watching and a follow-up activity as homework assignment about the famous US president Abraham Lincoln. This lesson is based on L ...
6 Views 12,500 Pre-IntIntAdvExam
How to Make New Year's Resolutions

How to Make New Year's Resolutions

It offers a brief text of about 230 words about the problems of keeping New Year's resolutions. It was adapted from an online magazine. It has pre-reading and post-reading activities. It includes ...
7 Views 26,593 ElemPre-Int
Monsters Inc - The Body Worksheet

Monsters Inc - The Body Worksheet

, Reading Comprehension
This worksheet is used in conjunction with a lesson on the parts of the body for young, beginner students. It uses the characters from the movie Monster Inc. to help students learn the names of th ...
13 Views 31,478 BegElemPre-Int
My Family Worksheet

My Family Worksheet

, , Reading Comprehension
This worksheet is intended to introduce the titles of family members for young, beginner students. It includes: a family prompt and questions, a word search, a match the person with the descriptio ...
13 Views 46,838 BegElem
Interesting Facts - Gray Whales

Interesting Facts - Gray Whales

, Reading Comprehension
This article includes some interesting facts about the gray whale. Gray whales are baleen whales (filter feeders). They often look like crusty ocean rocks. This is because they are covered in para ...
5 Views 12,092 Elem
Italy vs Ireland

Italy vs Ireland

, Reading Comprehension
Here is a worksheet I created for my intermediate classes to make a comparison between my country (Italy) and Ireland, with details about politics, population, culture, geography. Then you can let ...
3 Views 9,752 Int
The Black Cat by Edgar A. Poe

The Black Cat by Edgar A. Poe

Reading Comprehension
In this set of copies you will find a lot of tasks to work with the story by Sir. Edgar A. Poe: The Black Cat. You can find before, while and after reading activities. You can adapt the activities ...
8 Views 29,234 Pre-IntIntAdv
Comics- Antiheroes

Comics- Antiheroes

Reading Comprehension
This is a simple reading activity you can adapt to work with your students. There is a paragraph to read about comics and then material to prepare flash cards so that students have to guess who th ...
6 Views 8,781 Pre-Int
Some Interesting Facts about India

Some Interesting Facts about India

, Reading Comprehension
This worksheet helps students take a glimpse at India, this far-away country which we do not know very much about. The information provided is easy to digest, and hopefully makes students inspired ...
4 Views 11,061 Pre-IntInt

Got a great worksheet on Reading Comprehension? Tell us about it and become a BusyTeacher contributor!

Submit a Worksheet