Examples of Open, Closed, Hyphenated Compound Words for Kids

Today we’ll look at a simple list of compounds words that you can teach to preschool and kg kids. Below is the list of Compound Words arranged in an alphabetical order.

What are Compound Words?

Compound words are the words which are created when two words are joined to form a new word which has completely different meaning.

For Example, “Snow” and “Man” are two different words, but when joined, they form another word “Snowman”.

To help kids better understand the concepts we have broken down each compound word into its sub words.

100 Examples of Compound Words for Kids

Compound Word Breakdown of Each Word
airport air + port
anymore any + more
anyplace any + place
anything any + thing
anywhere any + where
basketball basket + ball
bathrobe bath + robe
bathtub bath + tub
battleship battle + ship
briefcase brief + case
buttercup butter + cup
butterfly butter + fly
campfire camp + fire
campground camp + ground
candlestick candles + tick
cardboard card + board
carpet car + pet
dishwater dish +w ater
doorbell door + bell
doormat door + mat
doorstep door + step
doorstop door + stop
dragonfly dragon + fly
earache ear + ache
earrings ear + rings
evergreen ever + green
everybody every + body
everyday every + day
football foot + ball
footprint foot + print
forget for + get
grandfather grand + father
grandmother grand + mother
grandstand grand + stand
grasshopper grass + hopper
heartbeat heart + beat
heartbroken heart + broken
highway high + way
homework home + work
honeycomb honey + comb
hookworm hook + worm
horsefly horse + fly
houseboat house + boat
inside in + side
jawbone jaw + bone
ladybug lady + bug
landlady land + lady
landlord land + lord
leadership leader + ship
lengthwise length + wise
lighthouse light + house
loudspeaker loud + speaker
matchstick match + stick
meatball meat + ball
outfield out + field
outfit out + fit
outgrow out + grow
outlaw out + law
outlet out+ let
outnumber out + number
outpatient out + patient
outside out + side
overboard over + board
overdose over + dose
overdue over + due
pancake pan + cake
partnership partner + ship
penknife pen + knife
photocopy photo + copy
playground play + ground
playroom play + room
popcorn pop + corn
postman post+ man
railway rail + way
rainbow rain + bow
raindrops rain + drops
sandbags sand + bags
seafood sea + food
seaweed sea + weed
skateboard skate + board
snowboard snow + board
spaceship space + ship
staircase stair + case
starlight star + light
sunlight sun + light
sunshine sun + shine
superhuman super + human
supernatural super + natural
surfboard surf + board
tailgate tail + gate
teacup tea + cup
teapot tea + pot
thunderstorm thunder + storm
tightrope tight + rope
timetable time + table
tombstone tombs + tone
toolbox tool + box
toothbrush tooth + brush
understand under + stand
wallpaper wall + paper
wardrobe ward + robe
woodland wood + land
woodpile wood + pile
woodshed wood + shed
woodwork wood + work
woodworm wood + worm
yourself your + self

Phew!, that was a really long list. One thing you all must have noticed is that the sub words have different meaning than the compound word which is actually good. This property helps us form more compound words.

Types of Compound Words

There are three types of compound words – open, closed and hyphenated.

  1. Open Compound Words are words that remain separate with a space between them. for example – Space shuttle, Video game etc.
  2. Closed Compound Words are written as a single word, such as teapot, sunshine etc.
  3. Hyphenated Compound Words are written with a hyphen between two sub-words for example – good-looking, close-up etc.

Examples of Open Compound Words

Open compound words are formed when a modifying adjective is attached to a noun to create a new noun. You must note that it is not simply an adjective describing a noun in a sentence, but instead, the compound which is formed is actually a whole new word. 

We place a space between the modifying adjective and the noun, which keeps the compound open, and hard to identify.

Let’s look at some examples of open compound words:

  1. full moon
  2. high school
  3. real estate
  4. living room
  5. dinner table
  6. new moon
  7. real estate
  8. coffee table 
  9. paper back
  10. racing car
  11. mountain bike 
  12. jogging pants 
  13. foster mom 
  14. high school
  15. school bus
  16. ice cream
  17. coffee mug

Examples of Closed Compound Words

Closed compound words are two or more words that are joined together as one word. Closed compound words look like one word. Initially they were not accepted as words but over time, many started accepting them as “real words” in English.

Following are some examples of closed compound words:

  1.  airport
  2. basketball
  3. bathtub
  4. battleship
  5. butterfly
  6. cardboard
  7. dragonfly
  8. football
  9. grandfather
  10. homework
  11. lighthouse
  12. outside
  13. pancake
  14. rainbow
  15. spaceship

Examples of Hyphenated Compound Words

Hyphenated compound words are usually characterized by hyphen symbol ‘-‘ between the sub-words.

Words Sentence Examples 
accident-prone It is an accident-prone area, please be careful.
good-looking He is a good-looking boy.
well-known Gandhi is a well-known personality.
no-one no-one came to see us.
co-operate we should co-operate with our teammates.
custom-built I will get a custom-built computer for you.
high-rise a high-rise building is a very tall building.
high-tech Bangalore is a hub of high-tech industries.
far-off Madagascar is a far-off country.
close-up I need a close-up of wild animals.
left-handed Ganguly is a left-handed batsmen.
white-collar I love white-collar jobs.
worn-out I will replace the worn-out jeans with a new one.
self-respect You need you have self-respect.
check-in My check-in time for flight is 01:30 PM.
check-out My check-out from restaurant was at 09:30 PM.
runner-up Kolkata was twice runner-up of formula cup match.
empty-handed Why have you returned empty-handed ?
long-distance It is difficult to maintain a long-distance relationship.
long-term Long-term investment is the best investment.
one-sided Today’s match was one-sided.
one-way Make your mind up one-way or the other
ready-made These are ready-made sarees.
part-time I am looking for a part-time job.

Note : Every word using hyphen symbol ‘-‘ to connect its sub-words is a hyphenated compound word.

Find compound words worksheet to help your kids practice what they have learned.

  1. Compound Words Activity Workbook for Kids