EnglishFreePrintable

Holes Vocabulary Exploration

A free english worksheet ready for your classroom. Open in Kuraplan to grab the print-ready PDF, customize it for your students, or generate a fresh version in seconds.

Download now

Name:Date:

Holes Vocabulary Exploration

Read the original camp scene, then investigate how four useful words work in context. Use clues in the writing as well as what you already know.

Read the scene

At the edge of a dry plain stood a small work camp. The wind pushed dust across the empty yard, and the old water tank creaked in the heat. The place seemed desolate: there were no shops, trees or houses nearby. Mara and her cousin Eli had come to help repair a fence. A notice on the gate explained that anyone who ignored the safety rules would face a penalty. When Eli stepped over a barrier, the supervisor did not scowl; she calmly pointed to the sign and asked him to return to the path. Later, a storm damaged a nearby shed, and its owner had to evict the animals until the roof was fixed. Mara noticed that each word gave a different kind of information: one described a place, one named a consequence, one described an action, and one showed a facial expression.

Meaning and context

Use the scene and your knowledge of the words to solve each task.

1.Match each word to its closest meaning: desolate; penalty; evict; scowl.

desolate
penalty
evict
scowl

to make an angry or displeased face
empty, bleak and lonely
a consequence for breaking a rule
to make someone or something leave a place

2.Which word best describes the camp yard in the first paragraph?

desolate
crowded
cheerful
luxurious

3.Choose all the words that could be synonyms for scowl in a sentence about an angry expression.

frown
glare
beam
grimace

4.Complete the sentence with the best word: The council may a tenant who repeatedly refuses to leave a condemned building.

5.True or false: In the scene, the supervisor scowled at Eli when he crossed the barrier.

TrueFalse

Use words precisely

Think about how word choice changes what a reader understands.

6.In the sentence “The place seemed desolate”, what clues in the passage support the meaning of desolate? Give two details.

7.The passage says someone would “face a penalty” for ignoring a safety rule. Explain what penalty means here and give one possible example of a penalty.

8.Write one original sentence using scowl correctly. Make it clear from the sentence that the expression is unhappy or angry.

9.Choose one word from the scene and suggest an antonym (an opposite). Explain why your choice is an opposite.

10.The passage uses evict for animals being made to leave a shed. Write a new sentence using evict about a person or group leaving a place. Make the meaning clear.

11.Write a short description of a place that feels desolate. Include at least two sensory details and use desolate accurately.