FREE Printable Phonics Word Lists
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Get 50+ pages of free, no-prep printable word lists that cover tons of phonics skills! They’ll save you time in planning and prep while creating impactful reading and spelling lessons.
Ways to Use Word Lists
We know from Science of Reading-aligned research that ALL students benefit from structured literacy, with systematic and explicit instruction that includes multi-sensory experiences.
But that doesn’t mean it needs to be complicated! In fact, my students are always really responsive when I embrace simplicity and versatility in my instruction!
And that’s why I love phonics word lists. Using word lists in your instruction might seem too simple, but they can be used effectively in so many ways! They can be used for:
- Teacher Instruction: Use word lists when you’re explicitly teaching a new concept – lots of examples to choose from!
- Targeted Spelling Practice: Word lists are the best for spelling practice and make dictation a breeze.
- Targeted Reading Practice: Kids will get LOTS of exposures to words as they read from lists with the same phonics skill.
- Review: Use lists to review previously taught skills and solidify concepts.
- Assessment: Whip out the lists to informally assess students, identifying strengths and weaknesses.
- Spelling Lists: Let’s all stop using traditional spelling tests with random words that kids need to memorize! Instead, consider using word lists with taught phonics skills to see if kids can apply the information using new words. For example, after teaching vowel teams ai/ay, you ask kids to spell words like rain, pay, bay, stay, and tail.
👨🏾🏫 Teacher Tip: I keep my word lists laminated and on rings, hanging right by my teacher table. So, when I need a word in a pinch (because let’s be real, we can NEVER think of one on the spot), I just grab the ring and flip to the list I need.
When you have word lists on hand, you can easily find words for the different parts of your phonics lessons.
So whether you need words for introducing a new concept, presenting example words, reading words, or spelling words, word lists come in handy in so many instances!
Free Phonics Word Lists
Get 50+ pages of phonics words lists with thousands of words, covering tons of different phonics skills!
To Download the Printables: Visit the post, then scroll to the “Download & Print” section. Click the blue “Download” button. This will save the pdf to your device! If you have questions, feel free to email us!
We've reached the best part - the free lists!
No matter what phonics skill you're working on, these FREE printable no-prep lists are a useful and time-saving tool to help teach and reinforce those concepts.
Many of these posts also come with teaching tips, extension ideas, research-backed strategies, and information to help you as you teach your students!
CVC Word Families List & Anchor Chart
This printable list doubles as a fun anchor chart or poster. It includes 105 CVC words grouped into word families. That means they're organized by the same middle vowel and ending consonant, so they rhyme!
CVC Words List with 7 Worksheets
All of the words on this CVC words list are accompanied by colorful pictures. You'll also get 7 cut and paste word matching worksheets help early readers practice important early literacy skills.
High-Frequency Words List & Flashcards
Bonus time! Along with the printable list of high frequency words, you'll also get 100 beautiful flashcards with words from the Fry word list.
3 Dolch HFW Lists by Vowel Sound
These lists include 220 kindergarten level sight words from the Dolch list, organized into 3 lists by vowel sound. This Science of Reading-aligned resource makes it easy to teach High Frequency Words based on similar sounds and features.
Closed Syllable Words List
Closed syllables are the most common syllable type and typically the first that children learn! This list includes 80 closed syllables words organized in an easy-to-read chart. The chart includes all one-syllable words listed by short vowels, a, e, i, o, and u.
Short A Words List
Learn all about teaching the short A sound and get a free printable list of over 150 short A words, organized by word family.
Short E Words List
Learn all about the Short E sound following research-backed, Science of Reading-aligned best practices, and get a free printable list of 114 short e words, organized by word family.
Short I Words List
Learn all about teaching the short i sound to students, and get a free printable list that includes 125 short i words, organized alphabetically by word family.
Short O Words List
Learn about the short O sound and get a FREE printable list that includes 119 short O words, organized by word families.
Short U Words List
Get a free printable list of 121 one-syllable words with the short U sound.
Silent E Words List with 7 Worksheets
This free printable list of Silent E words shows a colorful picture next to each word and comes with 7 cut-and-paste picture matching worksheets for focused practice.
Open Syllable Words List
This printable list organizes 64 words with open syllables into a chart with four categories: Nonsense syllables, 1 syllable words, 2 syllable words, and 3 syllable words.
6 Nonsense Words Lists
These are some of our most popular word lists! Nonsense words (or pseudowords) are SO helpful in ensuring students understand a concept. Get 6 nonsense lists for words with closed, open, VCe syllables, Vowel teams, and R-controlled syllables, as well as multisyllablic words.
8 Consonant Digraph Words Lists
Get 8 lists of words with consonant digraphs for practice with digraphs SH, TH, CH, WH, CK, and PH.
FLOSS Word List with Anchor Chart
Don't sleep on this printable list of the 50+ most common FLOSS words that follow the 1-1-1 rule.
2 Schwa Sound Words Lists
Schwa is the most common vowel sound in English! Get these two printable Schwa word lists, organized with words based on the placement of the schwa sound or vowel that makes the schwa sound.
Consonant Blends Word List
We love this printable list of words with blends, orgnized by initial l-blend, r-blend, s-blend, and w-blend words, ending t-blend and ending l-blend words, and 3 letter blend words. You'll also get tips for teaching consonant blends!
2 R-Controlled Vowel Words Lists
We've got 2 printable lists with over 150 R-Controlled vowel words (AR, ER, IR, OR, and UR). The lists are organized by R-controlled syllables, with one list of 1-syllable words & one list of multisyllabic words.
4 VCCV Words (Rabbit Words) Lists
Rabbit words are a blast to teach! Get 4 lists of 83 VCCV pattern words. All words are two syllables and perfect for scaffolded syllabication practice!
V/V Words (Lion Words) List
Get this list of 36 common V/V words! All V/V words (also known as Lion words) are multisyllabic words that follow the specific vowel-vowel pattern.
2 Consonant+le Words Lists
We have 2 printable lists with 141 C+le words. The lists are organized by common features (-ble, -cle, -dle, -fle, -gle, -kle, -ple, -tle, -zle) to help make your instruction easy.
2 VCV Words Lists
Get 2 printable VCV word lists! The lists include 84 words and examples organized in two easy-to-read charts, organized into V/CV words (Tiger words) and VC/V words (Camel words).
Long A Words List
Get an organized list of words containing the long a sound, organized into the 8 ways to spell long a.
Long E Words List
Download this printable list of words containing the long e sound, organized into a chart with all 8 ways to spell long e.
Long i Words List
Get this printable list of long i words, with the words organized under the 6 different ways to spell the long i sound.
Long O Words List
Download and print this list of 131 long o sound words, organized by spelling pattern and syllable type.
Long U Words Lists
Get two lists with over 215 long U vowel sound words. There's a list for each of the two sounds long u makes, organized by sound and spelling pattern.
Homophones List with Worksheet
Print this easy-to-reference list with 59 common homophones! It also comes with a worksheet to ensure kids understand the different spellings and meanings of each set of homophones.
More Teaching Ideas
I’m sharing some tried and true Science of Reading aligned ideas for using word lists in real life!
Practice to Promote Orthographic Mapping
When kids make connections between phonemes and graphemes, they build connections in their brains. These connections will lead to automaticity – where the words finally stick and become ‘sight words.’ This process is called orthographic mapping.
We love creating authentic, multi-modal experiences. Using elkonin boxes, or sound boxes, is an excellent way to do so! You can make it multi-sensory by incorporating letter tiles, too!
Decoding Practice
Decoding is an essential component for literacy. And explicit and cumulative phonics instruction is essential for kids to master decoding.
These lists are great for students to practice decoding words with the same concepts. Word lists allow kids to see patterns or similarities in words, building their visual memory. Then, as they read the words and say the words aloud, they can hear how they are similar too.
With more practice and repeated exposures, students will become more confident, fluent readers! Making these connections between words will lead to children ‘cracking the code.’
🧑🏫 Teaching Tip: Whenever possible, have students read word lists aloud – even if it’s just in a whisper. The more modalities that are involved, the more effective the practice will be!
Assessment
Lists are great to keep handy for a quick and informal assessment tool. It won’t give you lots of data, but it can certainly be used as a pre-assessment and give you a valid starting point.
Give your students the list, and simply ask them to read the words.
In just a few words, you’ll be able to tell if a student has an understanding of that particular phonics skill, concept, or syllable type, or if they need more work.
For a more in-depth assessment, use our free spelling inventory.
Nonsense words are especially insightful for decoding practice. They ensure that words have not simply been memorized. Instead, students are forced to rely on phonics features and syllable types alone. If a child can’t read ‘zed’ or ‘pov’ correctly, then you know you need to review closed-syllable words.
Sorting
Noticing patterns in written words is an important part of reading.
Kids can practice this skill by cutting the lists into individual words, then sorting them according to their phonics patterns.
Pre-made phonics word lists make this practice a no-prep activity for teachers! And with how busy teachers are, we need as many no-prep activities as possible. All you’ll need to do is hit the print button! 🖨
🧑🏫 Teaching tip: Because many of these lists include SO many words, we suggest cutting portions of the list and only giving kids a few at a time. This also allows you to practice on multiple occasions, using the same worksheets and saving paper!
Related Phonics Resources
Want More Phonics Resources?
Get our Phonics Dictation & Spelling Bundle to get Google Slides and a multi-sensory Word Mapping folder!
“So incredibly helpful to have the lists right there ready to go. Great selection of words and I appreciate how many rules it covers!”
-Erica L. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Remember to include decodable texts as a part of your phonics lessons, too! After teaching a new concept and giving kids practice with word reading and spelling, you want to move them to phrase and sentence reading.
Using decodable readers is a powerful tool in providing authentic reading experiences. We’re sharing links to hundreds of free decodables plus get our review of the best decodable readers out there!