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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 21 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.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.
2.When is a short sentence the better choice?
  • A.Only at the start of a paragraph
  • B.When you want the statement to land hard
  • C.Never
3.Expand "The ship sailed." to tell when and where. Which is best?
  • A.The ship sailed and sailed.
  • B.The ship, a ship, sailed.
  • C.At dawn, the ship sailed out of the bay.
4.Which sentence is expanded most usefully?
  • A.The mill closed on Friday, and it was a Friday.
  • B.The mill, which was a mill, closed.
  • C.The mill, which had run since 1868, closed on Friday.
5.Combine: "The fox was hungry. The fox looked for food." Which is best?
  • A.The fox looked. Hungry for food.
  • B.The fox was hungry and the fox looked and looked for food.
  • C.The hungry fox looked for food.
6.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 hung in a barn and it was green with damp and it was there a long time.
  • C.The bell, green with damp, hung in a barn.
7.Combine using a word that shows contrast: "It was sunny. It was cold."
  • A.It was sunny, it was cold.
  • B.It was sunny so cold.
  • C.It was sunny but cold.
8.Reduce: "The big, large, huge elephant walked slowly and not fast." Which is best?
  • A.The big large elephant walked.
  • B.The huge elephant walked slowly.
  • C.The elephant, which was huge and large, walked slowly and not fast.

LessonPrint · L.5.3 · Set 21 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Expand, Combine and Reduce

Set 21. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Maya won the race because she had trained for months.
  2. 2.When you want the statement to land hard
  3. 3.At dawn, the ship sailed out of the bay.
  4. 4.The mill, which had run since 1868, closed on Friday.
  5. 5.The hungry fox looked for food.
  6. 6.The bell, green with damp, hung in a barn.
  7. 7.It was sunny but cold.
  8. 8.The huge elephant walked slowly.

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.