Do you ever find yourself stuck when you’re trying to think of short vowel words for your beginning reader? I’m sharing a free printable CVC word list!
(This post contains affiliate links.)
Lately my Four’s reading ability has taken a big leap. No more slooow sounding out of CVC words… he’s got them down! At bedtime when we’re waiting for my husband to finish our youngest son’s Bible story, he likes to bring me his magnetic drawing board and have me write words for him to read.
- hen
- cat
- pit
My brain starts to freeze after just a few words. There are a gazillion CVC words; why can’t I think of them?
That’s where this freebie comes in. Print the list and keep it on hand when you’re designing activities for your early reader.
Or just browse this blog post for what you need!
Oh, and by the way. CVC stands for consonant-vowel-consonant. HAT would be a CVC word. But I’m also including short vowel words with beginning blends and digraphs (FLAT or CHIP) as well as short vowel words with double consonants at the end (HILL) or the -ck ending (PACK).
CVC Words (and more) for Short a
ab: cab, dab, gab, jab, lab, nab, tab, blab, crab, grab, scab, stab, slab
at: bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat, vat, brat, chat, flat, gnat, spat
ad: bad, dad, had, lad, mad, pad, sad, tad, glad
an: ban, can, fan, man, pan, ran, tan, van, clan, plan, scan, than
ag: bag, gag, hag, lag, nag, rag, sag, tag, wag, brag, drag, flag, snag, stag
ap: cap, gap, lap, map, nap, rap, sap, tap, yap, zap, chap, clap, flap, slap, snap, trap
am: bam, dam, ham, jam, ram, yam, clam, cram, scam, slam, spam, swam, tram, wham
ack: back, hack, jack, lack, pack, rack, sack, tack, black, crack, shack, snack, stack, quack, track
ash: bash, cash, dash, gash, hash, lash, mash, rash, sash, clash, crash, flash, slash, smash
Other: gal, pal, gas, yak, wax, tax, bath, math
CVC Words (and more) for Short e
ed: bed, fed, led, red, wed, bled, bred, fled, pled, sled, shed
eg: beg, keg, leg, peg
et: bet, get, jet, let, met, net, pet, set, vet, wet, yet, fret
en: den, hen, men, pen, ten, then, when
eck: beck, deck, neck, peck, check, fleck, speck, wreck
ell: bell, cell, dell, jell, sell, tell, well, yell, dwell, shell, smell, spell, swell
Other: yes, web, gem, hem, pep, step
CVC Words (and more) for Short i
it: bit, fit, hit, kit, lit, pit, sit, wit, knit, quit, slit, spit
id: bid, did, hid, kid, lid, rid, skid, slid
ig: big, dig, fig, gig, jig, pig, rig, wig, zig, twig
im: dim, him, rim, brim, grim, skim, slim, swim, trim, whim
ip: dip, hip, lip, nip, rip, sip, tip, zip, chip, clip, drip, flip, grip, ship, skip, slip, snip, trip, whip
ick: kick, lick, nick, pick, sick, tick, wick, brick, chick, click, flick, quick, slick, stick, thick, trick
ish: fish, dish, wish, swish
in: bin, din, fin, pin, sin, tin, win, chin, grin, shin, skin, spin, thin, twin
Other: him, this, mix, six, fix, crib
CVC Words (and more) for Short o
ot: cot, dot, got, hot, jot, lot, not, pot, rot, tot, blot, knot, plot, shot, slot, spot
ob: cob, gob, job, lob, mob, rob, sob, blob, glob, knob, slob, snob
og: bog, cog, dog, fog, hog, jog, log, blog, clog, frog
op: cop, hop, mop, pop, top, chop, crop, drop, flop, glop, plop, shop, slop, stop
ock: dock, lock, rock, sock, tock, block, clock, flock, rock, shock smock, stock
Other: box, fox, pox, rod, sod, mom
CVC Words (and more) for Short u
ut: but, cut, gut, hut, jut, nut, rut, shut
ub: cub, hub, nub, rub, sub, tub, grub, snub, stub
ug: bug, dug, hug, jug, lug, mug, pug, rug, tug, drug, plug, slug, snug
um: bum, gum, hum, mum, sum, chum, drum, glum, plum, scum, slum
un: bun, fun, gun, nun, pun, run, sun, spun, stun
ud: bud, cud, dud, mud, spud, stud, thud
uck: buck, duck, luck, muck, puck, suck, tuck, yuck, chuck, cluck, pluck, stuck, truck
ush: gush, hush, lush, mush, rush, blush, brush, crush, flush, slush
Other: pup, cup, bus
Get the free printable list HERE.
Print it double-sided for an easy reference!
You’ll love these freebies, too!
© 2015 – 2016, Anna G. All rights reserved.
I will soon be starting Kinder. This will be such a great help for me. Seems like God just whispers in your ears and you put it up for me.. Much thx
I’m so glad you’re finding the things you need here! I’m also thankful for the time and energy God gives me to create things for this site. It’s joy for me!
This is awesome and you are a saint for making this! You just made my life so much easier!! I need these for all my vowel combinations!
You’re welcome, Tessa – this list will save me a lot of time too!
This will be so useful.
Thank you, I have been looking for a list done by vowel in this manner!!
I’m glad you can use it, Caroline!
A god send for homeschooling and conventional educating parents desiring to prepare their children for their next educational challenge in life. Thank you!
P.S. The link for the .pdf list appears to not be functioning, at least via Chrome browser anyway.
You’re welcome, Amy! The link is working. You just may have to change the way you access it. Did you try everything listed here? https://www.themeasuredmom.com/how-to-download-free-files/
It’s great help and omre easier …handy also…
Thanks so much for all that you publish on this site. I ‘m currently doing Reading Mama’s Reading the Alphabet as well and your little readers have been so amazing. My daughter loves them and is so proud when she reads them.
I wanted to ask if there was an order to teaching cvc site words and if so do you happen to have that list?
Thanks in advance,
Gina
Hi Gina! First let me distinguish between CVC and sight words. “Sight words” usually refers to words that we see a lot when reading and may or may not be easy to read phonetically. For example, the words the, my, at, and, what, etc. are all sight words.
In contrast, CVC words are easy to sound out and may or may not be words we read often. You might call them phonetic words.
I wouldn’t say there’s a specific order you need to follow, but for most kids this is an order that is from easy to hard:
short a words, short o words, short i words, short e words, short u words
The particular word families you choose to do within each short vowel really doesn’t matter. I hope that helps!
hi this is JADE this site is a big help in y teaching career it’s a big help for the kids…more power to all writers on this site..God bless u all!
Thank you, Jade!
Hi Anna! Thanks so much for this list.
You’re very welcome, Jodi!
How can get more advanced cvc words
There aren’t more advanced CVC words. CVC words are just 3 letters with a short vowel in the middle.
Hi Anna I homeschooling my son thats in kindergarten, I’m looking for a list of all the phonic wordhe need to know before going into first grade.
Hi Tiffany! I think the best thing is to start simple and keep taking him as far as he’s ready to go. Different kids are ready for different words in first grade. If he’s reading to read CVC words, start with these, and eventually add words with blends and digraphs (chip, snap, etc.) and then start with simple long vowel words, like silent e words (sake, bike, etc.). Does that help?
Great Resources.
Thanks, Hope!
You are Amazing! Thank you for your kindness and caring for all children. I appreciate the freebies. Can’t wait to use the CVC word Family sheet.
You’re very welcome, Cheryl! I hope you like it!
Love the list, thank you.
When will version2 come out?
After knowing the children can read the words, I hope they will understand what the words mean. If a picture is made available next to the word, the children will be able to better understand what they are reading. Almost like their “first readable dictionary”.
I don’t have plans to make a version 2.