1,314 FREE Reading Comprehension Worksheets, Games and Tests
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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!

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Self-Access Learning Materials for EFL Learners

Self-Access Learning Materials for EFL Learners

Self-Access Learning Materials for EFL Learners Level: Lower intermediate Skill: Reading & Writing Topic: Te Matatini National Festival, New Zealand (Describing events/festi ...
8 Views 11,866 IntAdv
A New Year Letter [Correct the mistakes]

A New Year Letter [Correct the mistakes]

, Reading Comprehension, , ,
This is an actual worksheet for developing reading and writing skills. Students are to read and correct the mistakes. It helps to teach children to be honest, kind and attentive to people. It is v ...
18 Views 31,790 ElemPre-Int
Pluto, Sweet Old Planet

Pluto, Sweet Old Planet

, Reading Comprehension
There is a lesson plan which you can use four skills succesfully. It icludes basically a reading about Pluto. There are speaking, reading, writing, listening and pronunciation activities. This wou ...
12 Views 10,832 Pre-IntIntAdv
Famous People and Their Contributions

Famous People and Their Contributions

, Reading Comprehension
This worksheet contains a lot of information about great and famous people' contributions to develop their countries. Students should know their heroes and be proud of them. It can be used after t ...
15 Views 35,219 Int
A Day Out: Reading Worksheet

A Day Out: Reading Worksheet

, Reading Comprehension
This is a reading worksheet for teaching the present simple at elementary level. Students are asked to read the text and then answer the questions. The worksheet is available n different formats ...
12 Views 12,267 Elem
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Cities of the World - Reading/Speaking game

Cities of the World - Reading/Speaking game

This is a game I often use with my students, and it works well every time. The file contains two pages, one with pictures of ten famous cities and the other with short ad-like descriptions of the ...
24 Views 38,374 Pre-Int
The Economic Crisis

The Economic Crisis

This is a reading worksheet about the current economic crisis with a family on the poverty line in the UK. There is also a video about squatters in Seville and then also there is a debate about th ...
14 Views 20,134 Adv
Practice for Phonetics and Phonology [Advanced Students]

Practice for Phonetics and Phonology [Advanced Students]

This worksheet is meant for students at advanced levels to practice transcription into IPA and pronunciation. It consists of a series of texts from different authors, including Shakespeare, fairy ...
19 Views 39,257 AdvExam
Walter Mitty: Character Analysis

Walter Mitty: Character Analysis

, Reading Comprehension
This worksheet is based on the short story, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber. It helps students to organize information pertaining to Walter's four main dreams. The organizer a ...
5 Views 14,020 Pre-IntIntAdv
Present Simple Through Reading

Present Simple Through Reading

, Reading Comprehension
This is a reading worksheet for teaching the present simple tense at elementary level. Students are asked to read the text, mark the sentences given as true or false, and answer the questions. Th ...
14 Views 22,124 Elem
Rainbow Fish Interractive Story PPT

Rainbow Fish Interractive Story PPT

, , , Reading Comprehension
This is a PPT that has circulated around the expats in China teaching Primary EFL. It is constantly moving and holds children's attention. Learn the timings and this can last well into 2 lessons. ...
28 Views 46,404 BegElemPre-Int
Durell Zoo Webquest

Durell Zoo Webquest

, , Reading Comprehension
This is a webquest I made last year while preparing for a trip to Jersey and a visit to the Durell zoo. All the links are to the Durell zoo website. I used it after I had studied animals with 6th ...
8 Views 7,884 ElemPre-IntInt
Practice In Reading: Great Britain

Practice In Reading: Great Britain

, Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension practice. The worksheet contains two texts about Great Britain. The first text is divided into 10 parts to put them in correct order. The second text includes true/false acti ...
16 Views 23,448 Elem
If You Can't Master English, Try Globish: [Test, 10th Grade, Portuguese Students]

If You Can't Master English, Try Globish: [Test, 10th Grade, Portuguese Students]

Reading Comprehension
This is a test I gave my students last year. It is about varieties of English and global English. It has reading comprehension, vocabulary, grammar and writing. The key is included in the workshee ...
12 Views 15,397 Int
A Christmas Carol - Finding Answers in the Text

A Christmas Carol - Finding Answers in the Text

, , Reading Comprehension,
This is a holiday worksheet for Reading Comprehension. It addresses the Common Core Standard RI.1. This is a standard for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. This worksheet asks the student to find specific ...
10 Views 27,919 Elem
No Pain No Gain

No Pain No Gain

Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension practice. It is a narrative text that deals with a businessman who through refound self-confidence  was able to achieve the great success. The story is edited to meet ...
16 Views 17,779 All
Auxiliary Verbs, 3rd Person Singular, Prepositions, Reading Comprehension

Auxiliary Verbs, 3rd Person Singular, Prepositions, Reading Comprehension

This is a practice of three pages. First of all you will find a part where children need to complete the sentences with the right auxiliary verb. Then you will find a part where they need to circl ...
12 Views 23,313 BegElemPre-Int
NLP Story Reading and Ordering Paragraphs

NLP Story Reading and Ordering Paragraphs

, , Reading Comprehension
when I read this story for the first time I immediately thought that I should use it in my class. As preading or warm-up, I ask some questions about Nasreddin Hodga (a wise man in my culture) to m ...
18 Views 15,731 Pre-IntInt
Google Project Glass (Present Perfect Worksheet)

Google Project Glass (Present Perfect Worksheet)

, , Reading Comprehension
Read about the new project from google, and learn the present perfect and some future predictions! It can be used to teach how to predict the future, also there are good items to complete. The te ...
13 Views 16,661 Adv
Parts of the Body

Parts of the Body

, , Reading Comprehension
It is a worksheet to work with grammar (have got) and vocabulary (new: parts of the body - recycled: numbers and colours). It is intended for kids since it has got monsters and their descriptions. ...
18 Views 27,990 BegElem
Ithaka: Listening & Reading Comprehension (Grammar & Vocabulary)

Ithaka: Listening & Reading Comprehension (Grammar & Vocabulary)

This worksheet can be used for a listening activity based on the poem Ithaka by Cavafis. It includes a gap-filling activity and reading comprehension questions, after which you could engage studen ...
7 Views 16,547 Pre-IntInt
Short Story Skin by Roald Dahl [Test]

Short Story Skin by Roald Dahl [Test]

Reading Comprehension
Tales of the Unexpected by Roald Dahl - Short Story "Skin" - Test. Exercises: Plot/Summary: fill in the blanks; Who says what? To Whom? What about? Suggestions: After reading the short story you c ...
11 Views 33,444 Adv
How to Reduce Christmas Waste

How to Reduce Christmas Waste

, , Reading Comprehension,
This is a worksheet which contains a text and accompanying exercises. The text is about ways to reuse and/or recycle things and food used at Christmas. I've used this worksheet to widen the pupils ...
17 Views 15,591 Pre-Int
Reading Worksheet: USA Elections 2012

Reading Worksheet: USA Elections 2012

, , Reading Comprehension,
This is a worksheet about the U.S. Elections 2012. I have used these exercises for improving reading skills, increasing vocabulary range and to widen knowledge about English speaking countries (th ...
6 Views 13,601 Pre-Int
From the End of Slavery to the Civil Rights Movement

From the End of Slavery to the Civil Rights Movement

, , , Reading Comprehension
From the end of slavery to the Civil Rights Movement. This webquest allows pupils to become conscious of the evolution of the racial issues faced by the African Americans over the last hundred a ...
17 Views 16,595 Int

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