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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Adventurous Dining

Adventurous Dining

, , Reading Comprehension
The best of weird and wonderful dining. Tired of eating at the same boring restaurants? Looking for a change? Here are some restaurants that offer original menus, original locations, and original ...
26 Views 21,231 Pre-IntIntAdv
A Guide to Great Walls

A Guide to Great Walls

, Reading Comprehension
Interesting historical facts about the most famous walls which ever existed in the world. The texts concern The Berlin Wall, The Great Wall of China, Hadrian's Wall and Eboracum (York). The worksh ...
10 Views 12,515 AdvExam
Parkour Reading Worksheet

Parkour Reading Worksheet

, Reading Comprehension
Reading worksheet about this amazing sport - parcour! Ever climbed up a building? Bounced off walls? Or jumped from rooftop to rooftop? Parkour practitioners do it every day. Parkour is the &ldqu ...
20 Views 13,088 Pre-IntIntAdv
The Spy Next Door

The Spy Next Door

, Reading Comprehension
Another simple and easy to read text suitable for elementary/pre-intermediate level. Some vocabulary, grammar and comprehension tasks are included (2 pages). In vocabulary section, students have t ...
21 Views 19,693 ElemPre-Int
The Boy Who Cried Wolf

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Reading Comprehension
A very well known story ( a fable, to be more precise) with a clear moral. Simple and easy to read, suitable for elementary level. Some reading comprehension tasks are included (answering the ques ...
18 Views 18,108 Elem
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Alan's New School

Alan's New School

, Reading Comprehension
A simple and easy to read text about school (a letter to a friend) suitable for elementary/pre-intermediate levels. It´s useful for checking your students´ reading competence as the fo ...
42 Views 28,329 ElemPre-Int
Satchkin Patchkin: Part One

Satchkin Patchkin: Part One

Reading Comprehension
The first part of a short story about a little green magic man named Satchkin Patchkin who lived, like a leaf, in an apple tree. It's suitable for elementary/ pre-intermediate levels and is usefu ...
15 Views 16,860 ElemPre-Int
Heidi: Part One

Heidi: Part One

, , Reading Comprehension
A very nice reading passage for pre-intermediate levels. I've enjoyed a lot making this worksheet and included many comprehension exercises(4 pages). So, I really hope you like it. It has: 1) a v ...
33 Views 25,180 Pre-Int
How Glass Is Made

How Glass Is Made

Reading Comprehension
This is a reading comprehension about glass - how it is made, with exercises - comprehension questions and true or false questions. Aimed at upper-untermediate and advanced students.
11 Views 13,096 Adv
A Good Pet: Reading Worksheet

A Good Pet: Reading Worksheet

, Reading Comprehension
This worksheet contains a short reading text and a bunch of spelling/reading activities about it. Skills: Spelling Words with Silent e, Spelling, Vocabulary, Visual Memory. This worksheet was ki ...
23 Views 19,876 ElemPre-Int
Bats: Reading Worksheet

Bats: Reading Worksheet

, Reading Comprehension
This is a reading worksheet about bats with some after-reading activities: Questions about bats, What does it mean? Spell Long 'e', What Says 'er'?.   Example from the text: There are almos ...
13 Views 15,263 ElemPre-Int
The Origins of Flag Day

The Origins of Flag Day

, , Reading Comprehension
''That the flag of the United States shall be of thirteen stripes of alternate red and white, with a union of thirteen stars of white in a blue field, representing the new constellation.'' This w ...
7 Views 10,568 ElemPre-IntInt
The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins: Book Project

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins: Book Project

, Reading Comprehension
This cool 5-page worksheet kindly provided by Evan-Moor Corp is based on the 1966 book by Dr. Seuss, and comes packed with a 'make-a-book' project instructions and a writing template. Great for a ...
8 Views 13,017 Pre-IntInt
The Pony Express: Graded Reader

The Pony Express: Graded Reader

Reading Comprehension
In 1860, sending mail was not as easy as it is today. In those days, many letters were sent by ship. Other mail was given to travelers passing through town on wagon trains. It could take months be ...
9 Views 8,516 Pre-IntInt
Rap Music and Censorship

Rap Music and Censorship

, Reading Comprehension
This is a reading text on a very interesting topic, namely how much censorship there should be in song lyrics in general, and in rap songs in particular. There are a few post-reading comprehensio ...
4 Views 11,995 IntAdvExam
Inky-Pinky-Pooh

Inky-Pinky-Pooh

Reading Comprehension
Inky-Pinky-Pooh is a story about the adventures of a cat who lived in a big house. The new cook doesn't like the animals and Inky has problems with getting food. A little mouse Twinketoes becomes ...
9 Views 8,499 ElemPre-IntInt
Maxwell Loses a Tooth

Maxwell Loses a Tooth

Reading Comprehension
A short story about a boy Maxwell who looses his tooth and doesn't know what to do with it. He asks his teacher and friends for advice and gets many of those. At the end he discovers a tooth fairy ...
6 Views 6,759 ElemPre-Int
30 Simple Folk Tales For Your ESL Lessons!

30 Simple Folk Tales For Your ESL Lessons!

Reading Comprehension
Many of you have found the Fairy Tales for Your ESL Lessons very useful. Today we're sharing a priceless collection of 30 amazingly simple folk tales for your English lessons. Written in plain Eng ...
35 Views 36,466 All
Harrods

Harrods

, , Reading Comprehension
A text about Harrods (the department store in London) with some additional comprehension exercises, such as matching, filling in the gaps with the words from the context, mistakes search and mista ...
27 Views 19,243 ElemPre-Int
Great Kid Inventors

Great Kid Inventors

Reading Comprehension,
An Assessment for kids to improve English Spelling. Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb, and sixth-grader Zachary Anglin improved it. He didn’t like being stuck in the dark w ...
11 Views 9,372 Elem
8 Most Popular Fairy Tales - Adapted For Your ESL Classroom!

8 Most Popular Fairy Tales - Adapted For Your ESL Classroom!

Reading Comprehension
This worksheet contains adapted and simplified versions of the 8 most popula fairy tales that your learners will surely know. You're welcome to use these for dictations, homework assignments, re-t ...
43 Views 56,135 All
A Character T-Shirt: Individual Book Report Project

A Character T-Shirt: Individual Book Report Project

, Reading Comprehension
This is a project based on a story 'Anansi and the Talking Melon' by Eric A. Kimmel.  Your learners will have some pre-reading activities focused on predicting a character's actions, discuss ...
4 Views 18,254 ElemPre-IntInt
Motivational Family Story about A Tiny Frog

Motivational Family Story about A Tiny Frog

Reading Comprehension
This cool motivational family little story is about a tiny frog who could manage to reach the goal it set to itself despite the criticism and disbelief of other frogs. How could it manage to do i ...
8 Views 7,441 Pre-IntIntAdv
My Best Friend Kyle: Graded Reader

My Best Friend Kyle: Graded Reader

Reading Comprehension
This short story is about how friends can save your life not even knowing about it, how you can influence people or even change their life by doing something very simple or not doing anything, abo ...
4 Views 20,483 Pre-IntIntAdv
The Boy Who Didn't Know Fear: Folktale Reader

The Boy Who Didn't Know Fear: Folktale Reader

, , , Reading Comprehension
This is a full lesson plan based on the grared reader about a boy who didn't know fear. The lesson plan that was kindly provided by Evan-Moor Corp contains an activity (crossword) on action verbs, ...
25 Views 20,688 ElemPre-IntInt

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