What Is Word Retrieval / Word Finding?

Word finding, also called “word retrieval”, is a person’s ability to think of the right word when he/she needs it, such as during conversation.  We all have those moments when we can’t think of the right word, in that instant, we’re having a word finding or word retrieval problem.  Sometimes, children with language delays (and even those without) may have difficulty with word finding.  This may cause them to have unnecessary pauses, use filler words like “um” and “like”, or use non-specific words like “that thing” or “that stuff”.

Word Finding Strategies:

What can be done to help a child who is struggling with word finding or word retrieval?  Speech therapy is often helpful for a child who is struggling to find the right words.  Several strategies and activities have been shown by research to help a child improve their word-finding abilities.  The two main methods for improving word retrieval are semantic strategies and phonological strategies.

Word Finding Activities

Word Finding Activities

Activities and Strategies for Speech Therapy

Semantic Strategies for Word Finding

Semantic strategies for word finding are those that help the child learn more about the meaning of words and use those word meanings to build stronger brain pathways to those words, thus helping the child retrieve them more easily when needed.  The following activities are all strategies that can build a child’s semantic skills for word finding:

  • Categorization: Putting words into categories or naming as many words from categories as possible
  • Attributes: Providing attributes/descriptors for specific words and using attributes to define words
  • Associations with Other Words: Associating words that are related by function, composition, or other attributes, or by part-whole relation

Wright et. al. (1983) studied the use of these semantic strategies in language impaired children and found that this type of therapy resulted in highly significant improvement in naming pictures.

Phonological Strategies for Word Finding

Phonological strategies for word finding focus on helping a child better learn how the word sounds and its phonological makeup.  The following word finding strategies are examples of activities that can be used to improve a child’s phonological representation of words:

  • Syllabification: A target word is broken down into individual syllables.  The child counts how many syllables are in the word
  • Sound Segmentation: A target word is broken into individual speech sounds.  The child counts how many sounds are in the word
  • Rhyming: A target word is matched with rhyming words/pictures.  The child supplies rhyming words for the given word
  • Imagery: The child looks at a picture of the word while the therapist says the word out loud.  Then, the child closes his eyes and is asked to “see the picture in your mind” and “hear my voice saying the name of it in your mind”.

Wing (1990) studied the use of these phonological strategies in language impaired children and found that the subjects receiving the phonological treatment improved significantly in naming pictures.

Word Finding Strategies Using the Semantic Approach:

The following are examples of speech therapy activities that can be used to improve word finding/word retrieval using the semantic approach described above.  These activities are also great for use by caregivers and teachers to boost language skills and word finding skills at home and in the classroom as well.


Word Retrieval Activity 1:
Fill in the Blank Associations

Have the child fill in the blank with common phrases and sentences.  This will teach the child to use other words in the sentence or phrase to trigger the word he wants to get to.  Here are some examples of fill in the blank associations you can use with your child.  Try these while you’re riding in the car or waiting in line somewhere.

    • A pair of _____
    • Peanut butter and ______
    • Close the _______
    • The elephants live in the _____
    • Head, shoulders, knees, and ______

Word Retrieval Activity 2:
Rapid Naming from Categories

Have the child list as many things as possible from a certain category.  For example, have the child list as many foods as he can or as many clothes.  You could write down how many he thought of each time so he can see the progress he makes as he does this activity more and more.


Word Retrieval Activity 3:
Providing a Word from a Definition

Define a word for the child and see if he can guess what it is.  For example, you could say “it’s a red fruit that is juice and sweet and sometimes comes in green and yellow” and see how long or how many cues it takes for the child to guess apple.  You can switch this around and have the child define a word for you as well.


Word Retrieval Activity 4:
List Things Needed to Complete a Task

Tell the child the name of a task and ask her to tell you all of the things she would need to complete that task.  For example, if the task is swimming, the child could say “goggles, swimsuit, floaties, innertube, pool toys, towel”.


Word Retrieval Activity 5:
Finish Similes

A simile is when you say that something is ____ as a _____.  Provide the descriptive word for the child and have him finish the simile.  For example, you could say “sticky as a ____” and the child might fill in “peanut butter sandwich”.


Word Retrieval Activity 6:
Antonyms and Synonyms

Tell the child a word and have her come up with one synonym (a word that means the same thing) and one antonym (a word that means the opposite).


Word Retrieval Activity 7:
Part to Whole

Give the child a word and have the child list as many parts of that item as possible.  For example, if the word is “car”, the child could list tires, doors, seats, steering wheel, etc.  Then, have the child list something that the word is a part of (its whole).  For example, with the word “car”, the whole could be “traffic”, “vehicles”, or “transportation”.  These don’t have to be perfect, just try to come up with some associated words.


Worksheets for Word Finding and Word Retrieval:

Word Finding Strategies

Word Finding Strategies Kit

No-Prep Therapy Activities/Worksheets

Carrie Clark, Speech-Language Pathologist

About the Author: Carrie Clark, MA CCC-SLP

Hi, I’m Carrie! I’m a speech-language pathologist from Columbia, Missouri, USA. I’ve worked with children and teenagers of all ages in schools, preschools, and even my own private practice. I love digging through the research on speech and language topics and breaking it down into step-by-step plans for my followers.

Fun Fact: My kids and I all have had weird food reactions over the years.  We’ve narrowed it down to knowing that gluten and dairy can only be eaten every once in a while.  We’ve done multiple Whole30 elimination diets to help tease it all out.  Food intolerances are HARD.

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