Phonics Playground

๐Ÿ“š Example Words by Sound Set

Use the sound sets below to view example words.

Each set contains words made using only the sounds introduced up to that level.
Scroll through the sets to explore and support phoneme-based spelling.

Set 1 โ€“ a i m s t

a, i, m, s, t: sat, sit, mat, man, tan, tin, ant, sam, tam, sim

Set 2 โ€“ n o p

n, o, p: nap, nip, not, pot, pan, pin, pat, pop, top, tan, tap, tip, tin, son, sin, sat, sip, man, Tom

Set 3 โ€“ b c g h

b, c, g, h: bag, bat, big, bit, bug, cab, can, cap, cat, cot, cop, cub, cut, got, gum, hat, hip, hop, hot, hug, him, ham, hut, gap, pig

Set 4 โ€“ d e f v

d, e, f, v: dad, den, dip, dig, dot, dog, fed, fan, fat, fit, fin, fun, vet, van, had, hid, did, bed, bet, beg, bad, bag, bun, cup, pen

Set 6 โ€“ k l r u

k, l, r, u: run, rug, rat, rip, ram, rim, lap, lip, lit, sun, lug, bun, rot, led, lid, kit, kid, cup, cut, let, lot, rut, rub, red, rid

Set 7 โ€“ j w z

j, w, z: jam, jab, jaw, jet, jig, job, jog, jug, wag, wig, win, wet, wit, web, zip, zap, zig, zag, zed, zen, jot

Set 8 โ€“ x y ff ll ss zz

x, y, ff, ll, ss, zz: box, fix, fox, mix, six, wax, max, fax, yak, yam, yap, yes, yet, yip, yell, fill, hill, mill, will, sell, tell, bell, kiss, miss, hiss, boss, loss, fizz, buzz, jazz, quiz, lass, pass, mess, cuff, puff, muff, huff

CCVC Words

CCVC pattern: plan, plug, plot, plum, plus, clip, clap, clam, clot, club, flag, flat, flip, flop, frog, from, trip, trap, trot, trim, drip, drop, drag, drum, drab, grip, grab, grin, grim, gran, grid, span, spin, spit, spot, step, stem, stop, stab, skip, skim, skin, snap, snip, snag, snug, slug, slip, slam, slap, slot, slim, slid, slop, flit, flap, flan, blot, blip, blab, bluff, brag, brim, bran, bred, brick, crop, crib, cram, crab, crag, clog, clad, crim, grub, plod, prod, prop, prim, pram, swim, swig, twin, twig, whip, sniff, stiff, gruff, bluff, cliff, fluff, press, dress, grass, glass, cross

CVCC Words

CVCC pattern: bend, send, lend, mend, tend, land, sand, hand, band, hunt, hint, mint, lint, pant, tent, rent, bent, dent, went, pond, bond, fond, jump, bump, dump, sent, gust, lamp, camp, ramp, damp, nest, pest, test, best, rest, cost, lost, must, dust, rust, bust, list, fist, mist, past, last, fast, cast, task, mask, desk, risk, tusk, husk, turf, golf, self, milk, silk, bulk, bank, tank, rink, sink, link, wink

CCVCC Words

CCVCC pattern: plant, plank, plump, print, prank, brand, brink, blink, blend, blimp, clamp, clasp, clump, cramp, crisp, crust, craft, crept, grant, spend, grunt, grump, grand, spent, spilt, stand, stint, stump, stamp, stack, stomp, skunk, skimp, skint, spank, trend, track, trunk, tramp, trust, twist, drank, drift, draft, drink, front, flint, frank, bland, brisk, grasp, grist, sprint, scrap, scrub, scrim, strap, strip, strut, stump, slump, stamp, flask, crank, clasp, grant, stand, spend, split, splint, skunk, skimp, skint, spank, spent

Set 11 โ€“ sh ch th ck ng wh qu ve tch

sh, ch, th, ck, ng, wh, qu, ve, tch: ship, shop, shed, shut, bash, fish, cash, mash, dish, wish, chip, chop, chin, chat, much, rich, such, lunch, bench, chess, thin, thick, path, math, with, moth, bath, that, then, this, back, pack, sack, neck, duck, luck, kick, pick, rock, sock, song, king, long, wing, bang, ring, hang, sung, ping, rang, whip, whiz, when, wham, whop, what, which, whisk, whiff, quick, quack, quit, quiz, quest, quote, squid, squat, squinch, give, have, live, dive, hive, five, glove, shove, above, prove, catch, match, batch, hatch, patch, fetch, witch, ditch, pitch, stretch

Bridging Unit โ€“ c k ck ch tch w wh

c, k, ck, ch, tch, w, wh: cat, can, cop, cup, cut, cot, cap, cam, cod, cub, kit, kid, kip, ken, kick, kept, kiss, kill, cook, king, back, pack, duck, neck, sock, sick, pick, luck, rock, tack, chop, chip, chat, chin, chug, such, rich, lunch, bench, catch, match, patch, batch, ditch, witch, pitch, hitch, fetch, stretch, win, wig, wet, wax, web, wag, wink, well, will, wall, whip, whiz, when, wham, whop, what, which, whisk, whiff, whale

Set 1 โ€“ /ae/ sound

ai, ay, ea, a_e: bake, break, came, train, day, drain, game, gate, great, make, pail, pain, paint, bake, say, Spain, spray, steak, tail, take, tray, way, whale

Set 2 โ€“ /ee/ sound

e, ea, ee, y: be, bee, bleed, creak, dolly, eat, feet, freeze, funny, he, Jean, jeans, keep, meal, meet, messy, need, please, read, she, squeeze, stream, three, tree, tummy

Set 3 โ€“ ea spelling

ae, ee: bleak, break, clean, gleam, great, sneak, speak, steam, steak, team, mean

Set 4 โ€“ /oe/ sound

o, oa, ow, oe, o_e: boat, bone, bowl, coat, cold, crow, float, go, goat, grow, Joe, know, most, no, old, only, open, phone, pole, slow, snow, stroke, so, toe, wrote

Set 5 โ€“ o spelling

o, oe: blotch, Bob, both, dog, fro, frog, from, go, host, hot, lost, most, nod, old, on, post, so

Set 6 โ€“ /er/ sound

er, ir, or, ur: bird, bust, church, curl, dirt, fern, fur, germ, girl, her, herd, hurt, jerk, kerb, purse, shirt, skirt, swerve, turn, twirl, verb, word, work, world, worm, worst

Set 7 โ€“ /e/ sound

e, ea, ai: again, Ben, bread, chest, deaf, dread, dwell, egg, head, jelly, knelt, meant, mend, quest, ready, shed, said, spread, sweat, ten, then, thread, wealth, Welsh

Set 8 โ€“ /ow/ sound

ou, ow: bound, brown, cloud, clown, count, cow, foul, frown, ground, growl, house, loud, mouse, mouth, now, out, owl, pouch, proud, round, shout, spout, town, wound

Set 9 โ€“ ow spelling

oe, ow: allow, arrow, brow, crowd, crown, elbow, flow, glow, how, mow, shower, snow, throw, window, wow

Set 10 โ€“ m/oo/n sound

oo, ew, ue, u_e, o: blew, broom, flute, chew, clue, drew, crew, flew, food, fool, glue, grew, hoop, igloo, June, moon, loop, root, rude, to, true, do, bedroom, room, spoon, gloom, boom

Set 11 โ€“ /ie/ sound

i, ie, y, i_e, igh: bite, bright, by, child, cry, diamond, dry, find, five, fly, fright, higher, high, kind, lie, lies, light, line, might, mild, mind, my, night, nine, pie, pies, right, sigh, sight, sky, slime, smile, tile, tie, tight, tries, try, whine, wild, wine

Set 12 โ€“ b/oo/k sound

oo, u, oul: book, bull, bush, cook, could, crook, full, hook, look, pudding, pull, put, rook, shook, should, took, would, wood, could

Set 13 โ€“ oo spelling

oo (moon), oo (book): balloon, bloom, book, boot, cook, food, foot, good, igloo, look, moon, noon, snooze, ooze, room, shook, shoot, soon, spoon, took, wood

Set 14 โ€“ /u/ sound

u, ou, o: above, but, come, cousin, cup, double, fun, jump, love, luck, mother, mug, other, run, shove, some, son, stuck, sum, ton, touch, trouble, won, young

Set 15 โ€“ ou spelling

ou, ow, u, oo: cloud, count, coupon, cousin, double, found, group, house, mound, out, route, shout, soup, touch, trouble, young

Set 16 โ€“ /s/ sound

s, ss, st, c, ce, se, sc: acid, Alice, ascend, bristle, bounce, cancel, cats, cell, cellar, chess, chestnut, Christmas, city, dress, else, fence, force, goose, gossip, gristle, horse, house, ice, kiss, listen, mince, miss, mouse, niece, ounce, pips, press, scene, science, scissors, sing, sink, strike, slow, spot, stick, thistle, whistle, wrist

Set 17 โ€“ s spelling

s, z: bricks, caps, caves, cliffs, crabs, eggs, hills, lids, lines, papers, prams, shoez, tins, trees, trots, trucks

Set 18 โ€“ /l/ sound

l, ll, al, el, il, le, ol: along, ankle, apple, bible, Bill, bubble, camel, cellar, collect, doll, drouble, dribble, gerbil, kennel, ladder, lips, little, lunch, medal, metal, milk, model, mumble, nails, paddle, pedal, pencil, petal, petrol, pupil, ramble, rebel, selling, table, title, total, towel, travel, uncle, well, wrinkle

Set 19 โ€“ /or/ sound

or, aw, a, ar, au, al: all, also, august, author, autumn, award, born, call, cause, chalk, claw, cork, crawl, draw, dwarf, fall, fault, fort, haul, hawl, horse, Paul, pork, saw, small, stalk, straw, swarm, talk, tall, thwart, walk, war, warm, wart, water, yawn

Set 20 โ€“ /air/ sound

air, are, ear, ere, eir, ayer, ayor: air, bare, bear, care, chair, dare, fair, fare, flair, flare, glare, hair, heir, mayor, pair, pare, pear, prayer, share, square, stair, stare, swear, tear, their, there, wear, where

Set 21 โ€“ /ue/ sound

ue, ew, u, u_e: argue, bugle, cue, due, duel, feud, few, fuel, fuse, huge, knew, new, news, stew, tune, unit, united, unite, use, value

Set 22 โ€“ ew spelling

oo (moon), ue: blew, brew, chew, few, flew, grew, jewel, knew, new, news, stew

Set 23 โ€“ /oy/ sound

oi, oy: boil, choice, coin, coil, enjoy, join, joy, loyal, moist, noise, oil, oyster, Roy, royal, soil, toilet, toy, voice

Set 24 โ€“ /ar/ sound

ar, a, al, au: almond, arthur, ask, balm, calm, car, card, cart, dart, draught, father, grasp, jar, laugh, master, palm, partner, path, plaster, raft, rather, smart, star, start

Set 25 โ€“ /o/ sound

o, a: bottle, cot, odd, on, stop, swat, Tom, wander, want, wash, wasp, what

Set 26 โ€“ a spelling

a, o, ae, ar: able, after, Ann, ant, apron, baby, Dan, David, father, gravy, Hazel, lamp, llama, lazy, saddle, want, was, wasp, watch

Set 27 โ€“ /ae/ sound

ai, ay, ea, a_e, ei, a, ey, eigh: apron, bake, brain, break, cane, chain, clay, drain, eight, fall, freight, graze, great, grey, hate, jail, late, name, neigh, obey, pale, pray, prey, reign, sleigh, stay, steak, they, train, vane, veil, vein, way, weigh, whey

Set 28 โ€“ /d/ sound

d, dd, ed: band, blend, daddy, code, did, dressed, drip, made, looked, ladder, jumped, middle, paddle, saddle, opened, played, stayed, skid, sound, fiddle, riddle

Set 29 โ€“ /ee/ sound

e, ee, ea, y, ey, ie, i: bikini, breathe, bunny, thief, chimney, cream, daddy, dolly, donkey, dream, eve, freeze, glee, happy, he, key, kneel, messy, mummy, sea, pea, see, she, sheet, shriek, steal, stream, sunny, sweet, taxi, tea, treat, valley, we, me, believe

Set 30 โ€“ /i/ sound

i, ui, y: biscuit, build, grin, guilt, gypsy, hiss, hymn, inch, into, mist, mystery, pygmy, trip

Set 31 โ€“ y spelling

y, i, ie, ee: by, cry, cycle, dolly, fly, happy, lying, lyric, my, myth, pygmy, read, runny, sunny, shy, silly, tummy, yarn, yellow, yes, yet, you

Set 32 โ€“ /oe/ sound

oe, o_e, ow, oa, ou, ough, o: alone, blow, boast, boat, boulder, bowl, cloak, coat, cone, crow, dough, fold, goat, gold, groan, grow, hoe, hole, home, host, Joe, loaf, mould, note, oboe, open, over, own, pillow, shoulder, poke, show, slow, soul, stroke, though, toast, toe

Set 33 โ€“ /n/ sound

n, nn, ne, gn, kn: and, banner, dinner, done, funny, gnash, gnat, gnome, kneel, knee, gone, knew, knife, knit, knock, nail, never, new, no, pond, reign, sign, sunny, train, went, winning

Set 34 โ€“ /er/ sound

er, ar, ir, or, ur, ear, our: actor, beggar, burn, burp, collar, early, earn, earnt, earth, enter, favour, fern, first, heard, humour, labour, learn, learnt, lunar, moler, nurse, pearl, pillar, poler, purse, rumour, sister, skirt, solar, stir, third, valour, winter, word, work, worm, worst, yearn

Set 35 โ€“ /v/ sound

v, vv, ve: above, beaver, convict, groove, groovy, have, heavy, invite, river, sleeve, shove, van, very, vest, invent

Set 36 โ€“ m/oo/n sound

oo, ew, u, ue, u_e, ui, ou, ough: bamboo, brew, bruise, coupon, cruise, fluid, fruit, goose, group, into, jewel, juice, move, proof, prove, prune, route, ruin, rule, screw, shampoo, shrew, soon, soup, Sue, suit, super, tattoo, through, today, who, you

Set 37 โ€“ /j/ sound

j, g, ge, dge: badge, judge, bulge, fridge, garage, gem, genie, gentle, germ, giant, gym, hedge, hinge, huge, jack, jam, Jill, large, merge, nudge, sledge, smudge

Set 38 โ€“ /g/ sound

g, gg, gh, gu: begging, big, bigger, bug, digger, Ghana, ghastly, gherkin, ghetto, ghost, ghoul, giggle, girl, goat, goose, grape, greed, guess, guest, guide, guilt, ragged, tangle, wiggle

Set 39 โ€“ g spelling

j, g: age, agree, dig, Egypt, gate, goal, grin, gym, rigid

Set 40 โ€“ /f/ sound

f, ff, gh, ph: before, coffee, cough, cuff, defend, effort, enough, fact, fig, flag, fun, gift, graph, infant, laugh, off, phone, photo, rough, stiff, suffer, tough, triumph, trough

Set 41 โ€“ gh spelling

f, g: aghast, cough, dinghy, draught, enough, ghee, ghetto, ghost, ghoul, laugh, rough, tough, trough

Set 42 โ€“ /m/ sound

m, mm, mb, mn: animal, autumn, bomb, climb, column, comb, comma, common, condemn, criminal, crumb, grimy, hammer, gym, lamb, limb, man, match, meet, motor, mummy, simmer, slim, solemn, summer, summit, thumb, tomb, time

Set 43 โ€“ /or/ sound

oar, ore, our, augh, ough: boar, board, bought, brought, caught, daughter, four, hoard, ignore, more, mourn, naughty, nought, oar, ought, pour, roar, shore, snore, soar, taught, thought, tore, wore

Set 44 โ€“ /h/ sound

h, wh: behave, hard, help, hat, her, his, hump, reheat, unhook, who, whole, whose

Set 45 โ€“ /k/ sound

c, k, ck, ch, cc: accorn, anchor, attic, baker, book, brick, bucket, chemist, cold, comic, crab, echo, hiccup, joke, kerb, kind, peck, neck, piccolo, pickle, raccoon, scarf, school, silk, truck

Set 46 โ€“ /r/ sound

r, rr, rh, wr: bright, carrot, friend, Harry, Henry, hurry, lorry, mirror, narrow, rabbit, refuse, rhino, rhombus, rhubarb, rhyme, rhythm, rocky, rust, string, wrapper, wreath, wreck, wring, wrist, write, wrong

Set 47 โ€“ /t/ sound

t, tt, bt, te: butter, cats, debt, doubt, granite, haste, matter, met, paste, rotten, sitting, stamp, subtle, trip, taste, twenty

Set 48 โ€“ /z/ sound

z, ze, zz, s, se, ss: amaze, buzzer, blouse, choose, cozy, crazy, dazzle, desert, dessert, drizzle, fizzer, guzzle, jazz, lazy, legs, please, possess, prize, scissors, seize, snooze, was, zero, zoo

Set 49 โ€“ /eer/ sound

eer, ere, ear: heard, deer, cheer, ear, fear, here, mere, hear, near, rear, smear, sneer, spear, sphere, tear, year, spear, clear, fear