161 Consonant Digraph Words and Examples – Free Printables
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Here are 8 comprehensive lists of words with consonant digraphs, including examples with digraphs SH, TH, CH, WH, CK, and PH. These FREE printable pdfs are arranged by digraph in easy-to-read and organized lists for a variety of uses!
Digraph Definition
Simply put, a digraph is two letters that represent one sound. More often it’s called a consonant digraph, and this refers more specifically to two consonants that represent one sound.
Some digraphs can make more than one sound! For example, consonant digraph CH can make 3 sounds:
- CH = /ch/ like church
- CH = /k/ like in school
- CH = /sh/ like in machine
For the purpose of these lists, we focused on the most common sound of each digraph. We included both the voiced and unvoiced sounds of digraph TH, since both sounds are equally prevalent in English words.
👉 Why is it important to teach digraphs? Because so many words include consonant digraphs, children need to be able to quickly and easily recognize the digraphs as one sound.
This takes practice, but it’s a skill that will help them to become more successful and fluent readers!
There are so many ways to use these handy digraph word lists! One of our favorite is to use Elkonin Box worksheets (pictured above) to practice orthographic mapping words with digraphs.
👉 Keep reading for suggestions of some of our favorite ways to use these printables… the possibilities are endless!
Examples of Words with Digraphs
Digraphs can be found at the beginning, middle, and end of words! We put together lists of 20 words for each of the 6 consonant digraphs.
SH Words – /sh/
- shut
- shore
- dash
- shirt
- brush
- wash
- shadow
- shed
- shock
- she
- shell
- sheet
- flash
- shade
- rush
- shelf
- crash
- bush
- dish
- trash
- shed
- show
- fish
- short
- wish
- ship
- shout
- English
- finish
CH Words – /ch/
- which
- each
- much
- such
- children
- reach
- child
- china
- branch
- coach
- teacher
- lunch
- rich
- chance
- chair
- touch
- beach
- inch
- chick
- chain
- French
- church
- check
- choose
- chapter
- pinch
- chap
- chocolate
- bench
- cheese
TH Words (voiced) – /th/
- the
- that
- they
- this
- there
- then
- them
- other
- their
- these
TH Words (unvoiced) – /th/
- with
- thing
- think
- through
- thought
- three
- both
- earth
- north
- month
WH Words – /wh/
- why
- which
- when
- what
- where
- while
- white
- what
- wheel
- everywhere
- whisper
- wheat
- whale
- whistle
- whip
- whisker
- whatever
- whiz
- whirl
- whim
CK Words – /k/
Note: -ck will always be used at the end of a root word following a short vowel.
- back
- quick
- rock
- sack
- black
- sick
- pick
- truck
- stick
- thick
- luck
- jack
- neck
- check
- check
- duck
- deck
- clock
- track
- block
PH Words – /f/
- phone
- graph
- elephant
- Ralph
- phrase
- Phil
- photo
- dolphin
- sphere
- orphan
- phase
- Sophie
- physics
- trophy
- nephew
- prophet
- alpha
- alphabet
- phantom
- paragraph
Ways to Use Digraph Lists
Use the 8 printable lists in a variety of ways:
- The list with digraph TH includes both the voiced and unvoiced sounds of TH. Have students cut and sort according to the sound of TH (pictured above!).
- Print and use as a quick and easy reference for word dictation. Students can use Elkonin Boxes to practice orthographic mapping words with digraphs.
- Place the lists in resuable sleeves, and have students read and re-read the lists for fluency practice.
- Keep the lists near your reading table and use them for targeted practice when working on phonics.
- Have students find and identify the consonant digraph within each word. Highlighter tape works great for this (pictured below!).
For more digraph reading practice, get our FREE read-and-paste digraph worksheets!
Tips & Info
👉 These lists were designed for kindergarten, first grade, and second-grade students.
👉 Make sure you only use words from the lists that follow phonics concepts you’ve already taught to your students! For example, if you haven’t taught magic e, don’t use the word ‘shine.’
Related Resources
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Thank you!!🩷🌸
Thank you so much Katie and Laura! God bless you. These are very helpful for me as a K2 teacher. Greeting from Cambodia….( Cambodian teacher teaching Cambodian kids to speak English)
HI Phaneth,
We are so happy to know that you are using our resources all the way across the world in Cambodia. Thanks for sharing.
Katie and Laura
I absolutely ♥️ all of your resources!! Thanks so much!!
Hi Fran,
Thank you so much for leaving such kind feedback. We are so glad you like our resources, and we love knowing that they’re helping teachers like you 😉
Katie and Laura
Agreed!! Thank you for being so reliably wonderful!
Hi Kaily,
Thank you so much for the kind words! We appreciate it.
Katie and Laura
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This is a very good website.I asked for 100,they gave me 161😦😀😀
Yay, so glad this was helpful for you! 🙂 -Katie & Laura