StarSpell Word Lists

Phonics - Letters & Sounds Word Lists

For beginning readers. Around 280 lists and more than 1500 words. Includes a "Tops & Tails" section

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Phase 2: Introducing simple graphemes for phonemes

Sets 1, 2: s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d

letters 's' 'a' 't' 'p'
pat sat at as
'i'
sit pip is it tip
'n'
nip pin in nap pan an tin
'm'
mat man am map
'd'
dim din dip did dad sad

Set 3: g,o,c,k

'g'
pig dig gap gas
'o'
got dog on pot pop not top
'c'
cot cat can cap cod
'k'
kid kit

Set 4: ck,e,u,r

'ck' ending
back kick pack pick sack sick tick
'e'
ten pet pen peg den get neck
'u' (South England)
mug cut cup duck nut mum mud sun up
'r'
red ran rat ram run rip rug

Set 5: h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss

'h'
hit hug hot him hid his hen hat has had
'b'
back bad bag bed bin big bit bud but bus bun
digraph 'ff' at end of word
off puff cuff huff
'l'
lap let luck lot log lock lip leg lid
'll' at end of word
hill bell fill fell doll tell ill well
'ss' at end of word
fuss boss hiss kiss less loss mess miss
'f'
if fun fog fan of fat fed
compound words
padlock catnap fusspot backpack cannot sunset
2 syllables
sunset begun rabbit thunder pocket carrot

Phase 3: The remaining phonemes, with graphemes

Set 6: j, v, w, x

'j'
jog jet job jam jug
'v'
visit vivid van vet
'w'
cobweb win will wag web
'x'
exit six fox box wax mix fix

Set 7: y, z, zz, qu

'y'
yell yet yap yes
'z' & 'zz'
zip buzz zigzag fizz
'qu'
liquid quiz quit quick quack

Consonant digraphs ch, sh ,th , ng

'ch'
rich much chat check chin such chip chop
'sh'
shock wish shall cash fish ship shop shell
'th' as in then
with this that them then
'ng'
song wing sing ring rang long king bang along
'th' as in thin
thick thin thud moth

Vowel digraphs ai, ee etc.

'ai'
paid tail sail main wait aim nail rain
'ee'
need been feel feet teeth seen meet week see
'oa'
soap foam boat coat loaf road load coach
'oo' as in boot
rooftop zoo pool moon cool boot food soon too
'oo' as in book
wood took foot good book cook look hook hood
'ar'
park hard farm dark car jar farmyard bar bark
'or'
torn worn born sort for fork corn short
'ur'
hurt church burn turn turnip fur curl
'ow'
owl bow cow town down how now
'oi'
boil soil join oil foil coil
'er'
summer mixer hammer bigger never hotter better

Vowel trigraphs igh, ear, air, ure

'igh'
night might high sigh right light thigh tight
'ear' as in ear
near hear rear beard ear dear fear gear
'air'
hair fair chair pair unfair airless air
'ure'
pure cure secure mature

Combining phase 3 graphemes

including 'ch'
torch chain porch coach march chair church
including 'sh'
short shook shoot shoal harsh shark sheet
including 'ai' 'ar'
shark sharp raincoat chain raining march
including 'ee' 'er'
teeth sheep thicker singer queen sheet sharper
including 'oa' 'or'
thorn shoal coach north short
including 'oo' 'ow'
smooth foolish tooth shook shoot powder flower
including 'igh' 'ng'
charming lightning chopping thing singing higher

Phase 4: Adjacent consonants

Simple CVCC words

'-ft'
loft left lift soft tuft
'-ld' '-lf'
told held elf old cold bold gold fold
'-lk' '-lp'
bulk milk hulk gulp help yelp sulk
'-lt'
kilt melt pelt belt felt
'-mp'
damp bump camp lump limp lamp jump
'-nd'
pond sand send bend hand band mend fond
'-nk'
tank wink bank bunk sink pink honk dunk
'-nt'
hunt pant sent bent dent tent went mint
'-sk'
tusk desk dusk risk rusk husk
'-st'
just nest rest best cost fist mist
'-ct' '-pt' '-xt'
fact text wept kept next

More CVCC words

CVCC using 'ch' 'sh'
chimp bench punch chink chest shift shelf
CVCC using 'th' 'qu'
quilt thump tenth think thank theft
CVCC using 'ai' 'oa' etc
point paint moist roost roast toast burnt
polysyllabic CVCC 1
restless sandpit selfish shelter shampoo windmill children
polysyllabic CVCC 2
handbag dustbin pumpkin softest lunchbox helper sandwich
polysyllabic CVCC 3
melting toaster weekend munching chimpanzee seventh

Simple CCVC words

'bl-' 'br-'
blot blob black brag brick brim
'cl-' 'cr-'
clap click club clock crab crop clog
'dr-'
drip drop drum drag dress
'fl-' 'fr-'
flop flag flap flat frog from
'gl-' 'gr-'
grub grin grip glum glad gran
'pl-' 'pr-'
plan plus plum prod press
'sc-' 'sk-'
skid skim skin skip scum scan scab
'sm-' 'sn-'
snub snug smug snap snip snag smut
'sp-'
spot spin spit spud
'st-' 'sw-'
stop step swam swig
'tr-' 'tw-'
trot trim trip twin twig

More CCVC words

CCVC using 'sh' 'th'
thrill throb three shrug shred crash brush fresh
CCVC using 'ai 'oa'
trail groan float brain train
CCVC using 'ee'
sweet speed green sleep bleed creep steep
CCVC using 'oo' 'or'
droop stood sport spoon snoop
CCVC using 'ow'
prowl growl crowd brown clown frown
polysyllabic CCVC
treetop floating paintbrush freshness

CCVCC words

'bl-' 'br-'
brisk brand blink blend blank blunt
'cl-' 'cr-'
clump clamp crust cramp crisp
'dr-' 'fr-'
drift drink frond frost
'gl-' 'gr-'
grunt glint grand
'pl-' 'pr-'
print plump prank plank
'sc-' 'sl-' etc.
slept scalp stand spend stunt swank swept
'tr-' 'tw-'
trust tramp trunk twist

CCVCC words further practice

'spr-' 'str-'
string strong spring sprint sprang
'shr-, '-nch'
shrimp shrink trench drench crunch
polysyllabic CCVCC
driftwood printer twisting handstand kitchen

Phase 5: Introducing more graphemes

More vowel graphemes

'ay' as in play
day say play crayon spray stay tray way may
'ou' as in cloud
found sound ground cloud count out round mouth mountain
'ie' as in pie
pie fried cries die tie tries lie dried
'ea' as in heat
leaflet teacher seat steam team beak beach meal heat beast
'oy' as in boy
joy loyal royal annoy boy enjoy toy
'ir' as in bird
third thirteen first girl bird birth shirt skirt thirst
'ue' as in blue
blue clue glue true untrue
'ue' as in statue
Tuesday due pursue statue value rescue argue
'aw' as in saw
drawn shawl saw crawl claws paw raw law lawn jaw
'ew' as in blew
screw chew crew grew flew threw blew
'ew' as in dew
stew few dew knew new newt
'oe' as in toe
hoe toe goes foe woe
'au' as in haunt
taunt haunt launch taut
'ey' as in donkey
chimney turkey valley donkey

More consonant graphemes

'wh' as in wheel
wheel when whiskers whip which whisper
'ph' as in dolphin
alphabet elephant dolphin orphan prophet

Split digraphs

split digraph 'a - e'
safe same late name made make game came take
split digraph 'e - e'
swede these complete delete theme
split digraph 'i - e'
side ride five bike like line slide quite time white
split digraph 'o - e'
spoke woke those stone stroke rose home chose envelope phone
split digraph 'u - e' as in rule
prune June rude rule brute crude
grapheme 'u - e' as in tune
cube perfume huge use tune tube

Phase 5: Alternative pronunciations

Other sounds of a, e, i, o, u

'a' as in acorn
acorn April apron
'a' as in bath (S. England)
branch grass bath after class fast father glass last afternoon
'a' as in wash
wash was wander want what squash quarrel wasp
'e' as in demon
she he me be we demon
'i' as in child
wild blind behind child grind find mild mind kind remind
'o' as in sofa
total no so go mobile sofa won't don't
'u' as in music
human stupid pupil uniform unicorn music future
'u' as in bull
full bull bush push put pull

Other sounds of ow, ie, ea, er, ou

'ow' as in tow
slow show flow grow window tomorrow known low tow growth
'ie' as in thief
mischief diesel thief grief field brief chief shield shriek relief
'ea' as in head
head health bread breath dead sweat wealth weather breathless healthier
'er' as in fern
fertile term stern fern her herb kerb person perfect
'ou' as in soup
you soup group
'ou' as in shoulder
mould shoulder poultry

Other sounds of y, ch, c, g, ey

'y' as in fly
why try reply sky my fly fry cry dry by
'y' as in crystal
pyramid syrup symptom typical crystal
'y' as in puppy
rubbing badly greedy sulky telly funny puppy lucky family happy
'ch' as in school
echo chemist character school scheme chorus
'ch' as in chef
parachute chef
'c' as in city
central ceremony cell cinder city December accept success
'g' as in giant
agent surgery larger stingy gym ginger giant cage magic huge
'ey' as in they
survey they grey prey

Phase 5: Alternative spellings

/ch/ /j/ /m/ /n/ /r/ /s/ /z/

/ch/ as in picture
capture nature signature future picture mixture creature adventure departure
/ch/ as catch
witch switch stretch watch hutch kitchen match pitch scratch catch
/j/ as in badge
bridge badge edge judge hedgehog fridge smudge hedge
/m/ as in lamb
thumb lamb limb numb crumb climb comb
/n/ as in gnash
design gnat gnome gnash sign gnaw
/n/ as in knob
knot knock knob knee knew knitted knit knight knife unknown
/r/ as in wrap
wrap wreck wren wrench wrist wring wrong write written wretched
/s/ as in castle
castle wrestle whistle listen rustle glisten Christmas
/s/ as in house
purse promise immense house horse geese loose mouse increase
/z/ as in cheese
please pause cheese because disease noise tease choose

/u/ /i/ /eer/ /ar/ /air/ /or/

/u/ as in son
son nothing brother come mother wonder done some you
/i/ as in happy
symptom syrup funny lucky pyramid family gym happy crystal typical
/i/ as in donkey
donkey chimney money honey hockey valley
/eer/ as in here
interfere here severe sincere
/eer/ as in deer
cheerful jeer cheer beer steer deer
/ar/ as in father
bathroom afternoon gasp class glass father fast grass branch
/ar/ as in calf
calm half palm calf
/air/ as in there
there where nowhere anywhere
/air/ as in bear
wear tear swear pear bear
/air/ as in bare
compare care dare rare share spare bare square stare
/or/ as in ball
walking talk tallest always snowball small fall call ball all
/or/ as in four
court fourth four fourteen pour your yours course downpour
/or/ as in caught
taught naughty daughter caught

/ur/ /uu/ /ay/ /ee/ /y/

/ur/ as in earth
earth early earn learn learning heard pearl search year
/ur/ as in worm
worker world work worship worse worm worth word worst
/uu/ as in could
would should could
/oo/ as in bull
bush bull full push pull armful skilful
/ay/ as in play
delay spray stay way tray may play say day crayon
/ay/ as in game
flame game came late made make name same take
/ee/ as in seat
seat teacher leaflet steam team meal heat beach beak beast
/ee/ as in swede
theme delete these complete swede
/ee/ as in thief
thief grief field belief chief brief relief shield shriek diesel
/y/ as in pie
pie die tie lie
/y/ as in fly
reply try why cry dry fly fry by sky my
/y/ as in kite
like line inside slide quite bike five dislike time white

/oa/ /oo/ /oh/ /sh/ /zh/

/oh/ as in tow
known tomorrow window flow grow slow show tow low growth
/oh/ as in hoe
foe woe hoe toe goes
/oh/ as in rose
spoke those stone stroke woke home rose envelope chose phone
/yoo/ as in statue
rescue avenue value argue statue due pursue continue
/yoo/ as in tune
cube perfume huge tube tune use
/yoo/ as in dew
stew renew knew newt new dew few
/oo/ as in blue
glue clue blue untrue true
/oo/ as in rule
brute crude June rule rude prune
/oo/ as in blew
jewel blew screw crew grew flew chew threw
/sh/ as in official
special artificial crucial social official
/sh/ as in station
relation solution patience station nation emotion
/sh/ as in sugar
sugar sure
/sh/ as in chef
parachute chef
new phoneme /zh/
decision division pleasure leisure television treasure collision usual casual measure
/sh/ as in permission
passion permission discussion

100 high frequency words

Phase 2

decodable: an to is
as at in is if an
decodable: it to dad
of it off on can dad
decodable: had to him
had get back and big him
decodable: his to but
his not mum but got up
tricky words: the to into
to the go no into

Phase 3

decodable: will to with
that then them this will with
decodable: see to too
see too now look for down
tricky words: he to was
be me he she was we
tricky words: you to her
they you her my are all

Phase 4

decodable: went to help
from just went help children it's
tricky words: said to come
some have like so said do come
tricky words: were to what
one out little there were what when

Phase 5

decodable: don't to your
your I'm time don't house old by about
decodable: day to put
came put day here make made very saw
tricky words: their to could
called their people could asked looked

Tops and tails

Tails(2-letter endings)

'-ad' as in dad
sad lad dad
'-ag' as in bag
rag bag wag
'-am' as in jam
ram jam
'-an' as in pan
man pan fan
'-ap' as in tap
tap nap gap
'-at' as in cat
hat cat rat
'-ed' as in bed
red fed bed
'-eg' as in leg
leg peg
'-en' as in hen
pen hen ten
'-et' as in net
net pet
'-ig' as in pig
dig pig
'-in' as in pin
pin bin tin
'-ip' as in rip
rip lip pip
'-it' as in sit
hit sit bit
'-ob' as in sob
job sob
'-og' as in dog
fog dog log
'-ot' as in cot
cot dot pot
'-ud' as in bud
bud mud
'-um' as in mum
mum sum
'-un' as in bun
bun sun run
'-ug' as in mug
jug rug mug

Tops(single letter starts)

'b-' as in bag
bed bag bun
'c-' as in cat
cup cot cat
'd-' as in dog
dad dog den
'f-' as in fox
fun fox fan
'g-' as in gap
gap get
'h-' as in hat
hug hat hen
'j-' as in jam
jam jet jug
'l-' as in leg
log lip leg
'm-' as in man
man mum mat
'n-' as in nut
nut nap net
'p-' as in pig
pig pet pen
'r'- as in rat
red rat rag
's-' as in sad
sad six sun
't-' as in tap
tap ten tin
'w-' as in web
wag win web

Tails (3-letter endings)

'-and' as in hand
hand band sand
'-amp' as in lamp
stamp lamp camp
'-ang' as in bang
rang sang bang
'-elt' as in belt
belt melt
'-end' as in bend
mend bend
'-ent' as in tent
tent dent bent
'-est' as in nest
nest rest
'-ilk' as in milk
milk silk
'-ing' as in ring
wing ring king
'-ink' as in sink
sink drink wink
'-int' as in mint
print mint
'-ist' as in fist
fist mist list
'-ond' as in pond
fond pond
'-ump' as in bump
lump bump jump
'-unk' as in bunk
dunk trunk bunk
'-usk' as in rusk
dusk rusk tusk

Tops(2-letter starts)

'dr-' as in drum
drum drop drink
'bl-' as in blot
blink blob blot
'br-' as in brick
bring brick brim
'cl-' as in clap
cling clap club
'cr-' as in crab
crab crust crisp
'fl-' as in flag
flap flag
'fr-' as in frog
frog frost
'gl-' as in glum
glum glad
'pl-' as in plum
plank plum
'sk-' as in skip
skid skin skip
'sl-' as in slug
slug slip sling
'sm-' as in smock
smug smock
'sp-' as in spud
spud spot
'st-' as in step
sting step stand
'sw-' as in swing
swing swim
'tr-' as in trunk
truck trunk trot
'ch-' as in chimp
check chimp chin
'sh-' as in ship
shop ship shell
'th-' as in thin
thin thing thick

Main Word Lists
DfE National Curriculum 2014 Lists
Yr2 to KS3 Lists (Not 3.1)