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Greek and Latin Root Printables

Greek and Latin root printables for grades four and five, in four sizes with answer keys. Words sharing a root sit on the same grid so the link is visible.

The WordSearchCraft Team · July 30, 2026

Grades 4–5 · Common Core L.4.4.Bwhat this means

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Kindergarteners and first graders see lowercase in most classroom materials. It is worth matching what they already read.

Free, no account. Prints on US Letter at actual size.

Word Search: Greek and Latin Roots
ATTAPPMUMB
QEHUHIAVII
UREDOMNECO
ARRINPURRG
TAMBIOADOR
IIALCRLISA
CNLESTZCCP
CENTURYTOH
AVISIBLEPY
SOLARZBJEM
– AQUATIC– AUDIBLE– BIOGRAPHY– CENTURY– IMPORT– MANUAL– MICROSCOPE– PHONICS– SOLAR– TERRAIN– THERMAL– VERDICT– VISIBLE
Grid 10×10wordsearchcraft.com
Answer Key: Greek and Latin Roots
ATTAPPMUMB
QEHUHIAVII
UREDOMNECO
ARRINPURRG
TAMBIOADOR
IIALCRLISA
CNLESTZCCP
CENTURYTOH
AVISIBLEPY
SOLARZBJEM
Grid 10×10wordsearchcraft.com

By fourth grade the words getting in a student’s way are long ones, and the long ones are almost all built from Greek and Latin parts. Learning fifteen of those parts unlocks a startling number of words, which is why this shows up in the curriculum right at the point where texts get harder.

The roots repeat across the list

The sheet is built so each root appears in several words:

TELESCOPE sits in two of those groups at once, which is the best word on the sheet: far plus look. Say it that way and a student never forgets it.

The question that does the work

After the search, put four words on the board and ask what they share:

telephone, telegraph, telescope, television

Someone gets tele. Then ask what all four have to do with, and someone gets distance. Sound from far away, writing from far away, looking far away, seeing far away.

That is two minutes, and afterwards students have a tool instead of four memorized words. The same routine works for port, which gives carry: portable is carryable, transport carries across, export carries out, import carries in.

Guessing is allowed and should be

Once students have three or four roots, give them a word that is not on the sheet and ask them to guess.

Chronometer. Time plus measure. A student who has met CHRONIC and THERMOMETER can get there, and getting there without being told is the entire skill this standard is asking for.

They will also guess wrong sometimes, which is worth allowing. The strategy is strong, not perfect, and a student who knows to check is better off than one who trusts it blindly.

Which grid size

The 14x14, and it is not really a choice. THERMOMETER and SYNCHRONIZE are eleven letters, MANUSCRIPT and CENTIMETER are ten. The smaller grids cannot hold enough of these for any root to appear twice, and repetition is the whole mechanism.

Printing a class set? Two settings decide whether the sheet comes out right.

Common questions

Which roots are on the sheet?

Tele, photo, graph, phone, micro, scope, bio, geo, therm, chron, auto, audi, vis, port, dict, man and scrib, among others. Each appears in several words so students meet it more than once on a single grid.

Do students need to know Greek or Latin?

Not at all. The point is recognizing a repeated chunk and connecting it to a meaning. A student who works out that tele has to do with distance can attack telescope, telephone and television without ever seeing a Greek letter.

Several words on the sheet contain graph. What do I do with that?

That is the lesson, so do it out loud. PHOTOGRAPH, TELEGRAPH and AUTOGRAPH all carry the same piece meaning written or drawn, and once a student sees it they can guess at words they have never met. Ask them what an autograph and a photograph have in common before you explain it.

What grade is this for?

Fourth and fifth, which is where students are expected to use common Greek and Latin roots to work out unfamiliar words. It also serves middle schoolers well as review.