119+ Short O Words (Free Printable List)
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Learn about the short O sound and get a FREE printable list that includes 119 short O words, organized by word families.
🐙 All About Short O
The written letter O (called a grapheme) can represent different sounds (phonemes). The letter O can be both long or short.
But the most common sound the letter O will represent is the short sound, /ŏ/, clearly heard at the beginning of the word ‘octopus.’
The /ŏ/ sound is heard within closed-syllables and in many CVC words.
Short O example words:
- on
- ox
- bot
- log
- hop
- shock
- otter
Short O Word List
We’ve listed one-syllable words with the short /ŏ/ sound and organized them into word families. Use them for dictation, spelling, and more!
If you want all the words in a one-page printable, scroll to the bottom of the post for the free word list.
-ob Words
| Bob | cob | fob | hob |
| job | lob | mob | rob |
| blob | knob | snob | throb |
-od Words
| cod | god | pod | nod |
| rod | sod | prod | trod |
-og Words
| bog | dog | fog | hog | jog |
| log | blog | clog | frog |
-on Words
| con | Don | Jon | on |
| son | ton | won | Tron |
-op Words
| bop | cop | hop | mop | pop |
| sop | top | chop | clop | crop |
| drop | flop | plop | shop | slop |
-ot Words
| bot | dot | cot | got | hot |
| lot | not | pot | rot | tot |
| clot | plot | slot | snot | spot |
-ox Words
| ox | box | fox | pox |
-ock Words
| dock | jock | lock | mock | rock |
| sock | block | clock | flock | knock |
| shock | smock | stock |
-ond Words
| bond | fond | pond |
| yond | blond | frond |
-ong Words
| dong | gong | long | pong |
| song | tong | prong | wrong |
-oss Words
| boss | joss | loss | Ross |
| toss | cross | floss |
Other Short o Words
| Dom | mom | nom | pom | Tom |
| solve | Todd | doll | Scott | golf |
| dodge | lodge | John | gosh | Josh |
It’s important to know that when the letter O is followed by the letter R, it does NOT make a short /ŏ/ sound. Instead, it makes its own sound – /or/ like in the word ‘for.’ This is called an r-controlled vowel.
It’s also important to know that when the O is followed by the Letter W, it can make two sounds: Long O like ‘mow’ OR or the diphthong sound /ow/ like ‘cow.’
Short O Teaching Tips
We’ve listed a few Science of Reading-aligned tips for teaching the /ŏ/ sound with links to lots of information and resources to use with students.
You can use these same teaching tips and activities when teaching other short vowel sounds, including short a, short e, short i, and short u. We highly suggest using nonsense words, too!
- Explicitly connect the phoneme (/ŏ/) to the grapheme (letter O).
Using phonics flashcards is a great way for kids to see the letter and say the sound. - Use blending and segmenting exercises.
A blending board is perfect for this! Have students practice blending sounds to form short O words (e.g., /l/ /o/ /g/ blended together says “log”). - Introduce word families that feature the short /ŏ/ sound, like the ones on our printable list! Use rhyming activities to help students recognize patterns and similarities between words.
- Refer to your sound wall often! We suggest grabbing our low-prep sound wall with real and diverse mouth articulation photos.
- Have students practice manipulating phonemes.
This is the most difficult of all phonological awareness activities, so teacher modeling and guided practice is important! We love using the word chaining, or word ladders, to practice this essential skill. - Use decodable texts!
Current SOR-supported research shows that decodable texts are needed to establish effective reading skills to reinforce the phonics skills taught.
More Vowel Resources
Looking for more vowel resources? Grab all of our vowel word lists with over 1600 words!
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👉 Get ALL of the printable lists: Short A, Short E, Short I, and Short U.