A selection of English ESL reading comprehension printables

Reading comprehension. General vocabulary. Talking about: cleaning and washing, air pollution and pollutants, air indoors vs outdoors. True or false. Phrase matching. 

How good is the AIR QUALITY inside your home? - Reading Comprehension

A Simple Reading Comprehension based in the Southern part of New South Wales, Australia. But it can also be used anywhere in the world. The worksheet includes an answer key.

Busy Bus Driver - Reading Comprehension for ESL Adult Level 1 Students

Students must read this text from Emma's Diary where Emma talks about her Valentine's Day at school. Emma spends Valentine's Day making mailboxes out of shoeboxes, handing out Valentine's Day cards, and even getting a surprise card from a secret admirer! Students must answer simple questions about the text to practice reading comprehension skills. Video: https://youtu.be/pYOgsTBwIts  


There is a matching video to go along with the text with vocabulary and pictures at the end of the video. The answer key is included on the second page of the worksheet. 


Vocabulary: glitter, mailbox, crush, trade, store-bought, draw, pass out, figure out, fancy, decorate


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Simple Reading Comprehension with Questions + Video (Episode 8: My Valentine's Day)

Elementary students, read a story about a girl , who got lost in the mountains. Various animals help her to get down the mountain, to her parents.  There are 15 questions.( All material translated into Korean)

Lost girl in the Mountain. Reading comprehension with questions. ( Korean translation)

ESL teachers can use this file for a reading comprehension. It's a kind of a Multiple-Choice questions with answer keys. I believe that this file is useful and time-saving for language teachers.

Changing Roles is a kind of reading comprehension with answer key.

Students must read a text about different Easter egg patterns and answer short questions. This lesson teaches students the names of different patterns including: polka dots, stripes, waves, swirl, plaid, checkered, speckled, zigzag, and more! This lesson can be used with this video that shows pictures for each pattern: https://youtu.be/40NWQ_ZLEls


Answers are provided on the second page. This is a fun Easter activity and you can also have your students decorate Easter eggs or draw them afterwards.

Easter Egg Decorating: Simple Reading Comprehension with Short Answer Questions + Video

A worksheet with a short text + 5 tasks, including questions and writing to develop the students’ comprehension and ability to develop their ideas. The worksheet can be used as a starting point for a conversation class about luck and the students’ beliefs about it, ways to prevent bad things from happening, how a person can organize himself in order to avoid bad surprises, etc. The aim of the ws is to encourage students to express their ideas writing and speaking. The worksheet is completely editable / correctable. Hope it’s useful. Thanks for downloading and have a nice day!

A bad day – reading comprehension, writing, conversation [5 tasks] ((2 pages)) ***editable

The above printable, downloadable handout is a great resource for teenagers and adults. It is a useful material for improving Reading  skills. they have to match the headings with the corresponding paragraphs

READING COMPREHENSION: Magazine Article "5 things I wish I’d known about Mexico"

Reading comprehension (20 marks, 8 questions) A very meaningful article which encourages the heart of teachers. Phrases in the passage include: teaching method, multimedia teaching materials, no apparent regression in the learning abilities of students, more motivated to learn, build up their self- confidence, deep friendship with students, etc.

Teaching dedication has its rewards (Reading comprehension worksheet: 20 marks, 8 questions) 

The above printable, downloadable handout is a great resource for teenagers and adults. It is a useful material for improving Reading skills. STUDENTS have to match the headings with the corresponding paragraphs

READING COMPREHENSION: Magazine Article "5 things You Didn't Know About Stephen Hawking"

Lesson based on current events in May 2023. The article is written for intermediate ESL students with 10 multiple choice questions that test higher-order thinking skills, such as understanding the nuances of English and making inferences. Also has prompts that can be used for speaking and writing. 

WhatsApp Introduces Message Editing Feature for its 2 Billion Users - Reading Comprehension

Students must read this text from Emma's Diary where Emma talks about going Black Friday shopping at the mall with her friend Megan. Students must answer questions about the text to practice reading comprehension skills. Video: https://youtu.be/BuVE3VKsx80


There is a matching video to go along with the text and answer key is included. 


Vocabulary Includes: packed, frenemy, finders keepers, end up, sparkly, earrings, wild, allowance, scrunchies

Simple Reading Comprehension with Questions + Video (Episode 5: Black Friday Mall Madness!)

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

3,687 Reading comprehension English ESL worksheets pdf & doc