Rhyming Words

• Rhyming words end with the same sound: cat, hat, mat.
• Rhymes help us remember poems, songs, and word families.
• Spotting the ending chunk (like -at, -op, -ake) finds rhyming words fast.

Level 1 — Core idea

Verbal: cat and hat both end in the '-at' sound, so they rhyme.

Symbolic: c-at, h-at, m-at — same ending chunk.

Visual: Word family tree: -at → cat, hat, mat, bat, rat, sat.

Level 2 — Going deeper

Word families share an ending: -ig (big, pig, dig), -op (hop, top, mop), -ake (cake, lake, make). In an odd-one-out task, find the word whose ending does not match the rest.

NCERT anchor

NCERT Class 3 English poems often use rhyme; reading them aloud helps spot word families.

Which word rhymes with 'hop'?

Step 1 — Ending sound of 'hop' = '-op'
Step 2 — Look for another '-op' word among the options
Step 3 — Answer: top ✓

Which word does NOT rhyme: cat, hat, sun, mat?

Step 1 — cat, hat, mat all end in '-at'
Step 2 — sun ends in '-un', different sound
Step 3 — Answer: sun ✓

• Which word rhymes with 'cake'?
• Which word does NOT rhyme with 'big', 'pig', 'wig', 'sun'?
• Complete the rhyme: 'I have a pet cat, it sat on the ___.'
• Stretch: Write your own two-line rhyme using an '-op' word.

Revision tip: Say the ending sound out loud and listen for the match.

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Rhyming Words.