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Expand, Combine and Reduce is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on reshaping sentences for meaning and interest, aligned to Common Core standard L.5.3. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 16 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.

Expand, Combine and Reduce

L.5.3

NameDate

Circle the right answer.

1.Why combine two short sentences into one?
  • A.To make the writing longer
  • B.Because short sentences are always wrong
  • C.To show how the ideas relate rather than just listing them
2.When is a short sentence the better choice?
  • A.Only at the start of a paragraph
  • B.Never
  • C.When you want the statement to land hard
3.Expand "The ship sailed." to tell when and where. Which is best?
  • A.The ship, a ship, sailed.
  • B.The ship sailed and sailed.
  • C.At dawn, the ship sailed out of the bay.
4.Which sentence is wordy and needs reducing?
  • A.I think the play was good.
  • B.In my opinion, I think that the play was good.
  • C.The play was good.
5.Reduce: "The big, large, huge elephant walked slowly and not fast." Which is best?
  • A.The huge elephant walked slowly.
  • B.The big large elephant walked.
  • C.The elephant, which was huge and large, walked slowly and not fast.
6.Combine: "Maya won the race. She had trained for months." Which is best?
  • A.Maya won the race because she had trained for months.
  • B.Maya had trained for months and won and the race.
  • C.Maya won the race, she had trained for months.
7.Which sentence is expanded most usefully?
  • A.The mill, which had run since 1868, closed on Friday.
  • B.The mill, which was a mill, closed.
  • C.The mill closed on Friday, and it was a Friday.
8.Combine: "The bell hung in a barn. It was green with damp." Which is best?
  • A.Green with damp the bell hung in a barn.
  • B.The bell, green with damp, hung in a barn.
  • C.The bell hung in a barn and it was green with damp and it was there a long time.

LessonPrint · L.5.3 · Set 16 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Expand, Combine and Reduce

Set 16. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.To show how the ideas relate rather than just listing them
  2. 2.When you want the statement to land hard
  3. 3.At dawn, the ship sailed out of the bay.
  4. 4.In my opinion, I think that the play was good.
  5. 5.The huge elephant walked slowly.
  6. 6.Maya won the race because she had trained for months.
  7. 7.The mill, which had run since 1868, closed on Friday.
  8. 8.The bell, green with damp, hung in a barn.

More practice for L.5.3

Expand and combine sentences for meaning, and compare varieties of English.

Teaching this next? Combining Sentences for Style is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to L.5.3 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.