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Read for Sense is a free printable Grade 3 English worksheet on reading closely enough to answer with evidence, aligned to Common Core standard RF.3.4. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 15 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Read for Sense

RF.3.4

NameDate

Read the text, then answer the questions.

1.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Violin in the Loft

Nobody in our family plays anything. So the violin in the loft was a mystery for eleven years. Then Great-Aunt Sylvie came for Christmas and saw the case on the table. She went very quiet. "That was my brother's," she said. "He played in a café in Marseille before the war." She opened it. Three strings had gone, and the bridge lay loose in the bottom of the case. She did not play it. She held it under her chin for about ten seconds, put it back, and closed the lid. Then she asked for more potatoes and did not mention it again.

  1. 1. What was wrong with the violin?
  2. 2. Whose violin was it?
  3. 3. How long had the violin been a mystery?
  4. 4. Which sentence shows she did not want to talk about it?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.

The Night the Lamp Went Out

Grace's father kept the lighthouse. On the worst night of the winter, the lamp went out. He was ill in bed. Grace was eleven. She carried the oil up ninety-seven steps in the dark, twice, because the can was too heavy to lift full. Her arms shook so much on the second trip that she had to sit down halfway. She trimmed the wick the way she had watched a hundred times. She struck the match on the fourth try. By the time the light swung out across the water, three ships had already turned back. Grace never knew whether she had been in time. She decided not to think about it.

  1. 1. How many tries did the match take?
  2. 2. How many steps did Grace climb?
  3. 3. Quote the words that show how hard the climb was.
  4. 4. Which sentence tells you Grace had watched the job before?

LessonPrint · RF.3.4 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Read for Sense

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Three strings had gone and the bridge lay loose in the case. 2. Great-Aunt Sylvie's brother's. 3. Eleven years. 4. "Then she asked for more potatoes and did not mention it again."
  2. 2.1. Four. 2. Ninety-seven. 3. "Her arms shook so much on the second trip that she had to sit down halfway." 4. "She trimmed the wick the way she had watched a hundred times."

More practice for RF.3.4

Read Grade 3 text at a sensible pace with expression, and fix your own errors.

Teaching this next? Fluency That Shows Understanding is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RF.3.4 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.