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Current Location: Home arrow Onestopclil arrow Vocabulary arrow Vocabulary worksheets

Vocabulary worksheets

Illustrated worksheets to help secondary students acquire subject-specific vocabulary

One of the challenges of CLIL for secondary students is getting to grips with the large number of unfamiliar, subject-specific words. These accessible worksheets – ideal to give as homework or to supplement your CLIL lesson – aim to make learning subject vocabulary easier.

Most consist of a vocabulary reference sheet – with clear illustrations and presenting key vocabulary – followed by matching, translation, labelling and gap-fill exercises to practise and consolidate core terms.

Before you subscribe why not try out these FREE sample worksheets on key biology and geography terms?

In this subsection

  • Biology vocabulary (2Mb)

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    What makes an animal an invertebrate? What happens in the process of photosynthesis? A comprehensive reference sheet illustrates key vocabulary for biological processes, cell and plant structure, and basic animal anatomy. Matching, translation and sentence completion exercises enable students to practise what they have learned.

  • Business vocabulary (1Mb)

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    Make business terms such as ‘consumer’ and ‘monopoly’ accessible through illustrations, straightforward definitions and example sentences that demonstrate verb collocations (e.g. ‘make a profit’). Students put the lesson into practice through matching, translation and sentence completion exercises.

  • Chemistry vocabulary (645k)

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    Students learn the vocabulary they need to discuss chemistry in English, including terms such as ‘atomic mass’, ‘isotope’, and ‘valency’, as well as the English names of more than 50 common elements, ions and compounds. The comprehensive reference sheet also illustrates the states of matter, including the verbs to describe changes of state.

  • Classical architecture vocabulary (660k)

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    This series of exercises teaches fundamental architectural terms, from ‘cornice’ to ‘pedestal’, and details the origin and distinguishing features of the five Classical orders. Students label a diagram, match terms to their definitions, and identify the correct architectural order using a text description and an illustration.

  • Environment vocabulary (717k)

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    Students learn the vocabulary they need to discuss the effects of human activity on the world around us. A reference sheet illustrates terms such as 'endangered', 'pollution' and 'recycle', while worksheet activities help students use the new vocabulary like native speakers. Among the exercises, students compare noun, adjective and verb forms of words; match collocations; and choose the correct preposition to complete a phrase.

  • Geography vocabulary (3Mb)

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    Are the Philippines a continent or an archipelago? What are the key features of a desert landscape? Is the word ‘flood’ a noun or a verb? A reference sheet illustrates useful geography vocabulary, including words for geographic features, natural disasters and natural resources, while worksheet exercises help consolidate the terms.

  • History vocabulary (810k)

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    Reinforce students’ knowledge of the Middle Ages while expanding their vocabulary. Students complete a timeline tracing the key events of the period, from the rise and fall of the Ostrogoths to the advent of the Holy Roman Empire and the spread of the plague. They then translate and match words to their definitions and fill in territorial maps.

  • Mathematics vocabulary (714k)

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    What is a prime number? How does one calculate the area of a circle? Is a rectangle a regular or irregular polygon? Enable students to discuss maths in English with this reference sheet, which provides definitions, examples and illustrations of more than 25 important mathematic terms and concepts. In the accompanying worksheet, students practise the vocabulary by labelling a diagram, matching terms to their definitions, and circling the correct word to complete a sentence.

  • Physics vocabulary (642k)

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    Show how to calculate the forces on an object on an inclined plane while demonstrating how physics terms such as 'magnetism' and 'inertia' are used in everyday language. A reference sheet provides a useful list of units of measurement and illustrates key physics machines and equations. Worksheet exercises test students’ knowledge of the vocabulary they have learned.

  • School vocabulary (707k)

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    Did you get a good mark, or did you do badly in your exam? How hard did you study? Did you know that word, or did you look it up in the dictionary? Enable students to discuss their school subjects in English with common expressions used by native speakers. The lesson includes an illustrated reference sheet and worksheet exercises, in which students identify the noun form of verbs, choose the correct word to complete a sentence, and collocate words.

  • Computer vocabulary (914k)

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    For many students today, life before the personal computer is hard to imagine. Teach them vocabulary words related to the now ubiquitous technology through this series of exercises. Students translate computer terminology into their own language, identify computer components and icons, and complete sentences with useful terms such as ‘download’ and ‘attachment’.