If you are a parent or teacher that has been looking for a comprehensive list of CVC words, then I’ve got a treat for you!
When creating reading practice for my kids, I love to incorporate as many CVC and high frequency words as I can. Since CVC words are decodable, it builds children’s confidence as they begin to read words on their own.
These words are constructed of a consonant, vowel, and consonant. For example, ‘tap’, ‘hen’, ‘fit’, ‘pot’, and ‘hut’ all makeup CVC words.
As you can notice, the vowel in each of the words listed above makes the short-vowel sound. Long-vowel sounds, such as bake and bite, will come later as children are taught their CVCe words.
What is the difference between sight words and CVC words?
If you homeschool or are simply assisting your child with their schoolwork, you might be wondering what the difference between sight words, high frequency words and CVC words is.
Sight words are words that we learn to recognize by sight. Any word can technically become a sight word once we learn to recognize them.
High frequency words are words that appear most often in written text. Many people use sight words and high frequency words interchangeably. However, not all sight words are high frequency words.
Words, such as ‘for’, ‘you’ and ‘the’ are all sight words and high frequency words. These types of words may or may not follow a phonetic pattern.
CVC words, I touched on a bit above. These are words that usually follow a phonetic pattern. These words always have a consonant, vowel, and consonant.
CVC Words List Separated by Vowel
Below, you will find a list of 207+ CVC words that you can use in building sentences or creating activities for your little learners.
Each section has been separated by the vowel that is found in the middle of the CVC word. Only those words that make the short-vowel sound have been included, with the exception of the ‘o’ group. Which I have noted on below.
You may find it beneficial to start with short-a words and then move on to short o, i, e and, finally, u words.
CVC a Words List
Here is list of CVC a words. These words will typically be the easiest to start with, with learners to the English language.
This CVC a words list contains 60 words for you to use with your readers.
| –ab: | cab, dab, gab, lab, tab |
| -ad: | bad, dad, had, lad, mad, pad, rad, sad, tad |
| -ag: | bag, gag, lag, nag, rag, sag, tag, wag, zag |
| -am: | bam, ham, jam, ram, yam |
| -an: | ban, can, fan, man, pan, ran, tan, van |
| -ap: | cap, gap, lap, map, nap, rap, sap, tap, yap, zap |
| -at: | bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, pat, rat, sat |
| -ax: | fax, tax, wax |
| other: | gas, gal, pal |
CVC e Words List
Below is a list of CVC e words that follow the short-e vowel sound. This is the shortest group of words, with just 28 words.
| -ed: | bed, fed, led, red, wed |
| -eg: | beg, leg, peg |
| -en: | den, hen, men, pen, ten |
| -et: | bet, get, jet, let, met, net, pet, set, vet, wet, yet |
| other: | yep, yes, web, hem |
CVC i Words List
CVC i words can be tricky for little readers as they may mix up the short-i and short-e sounds. Here is a list of 46 CVC i words to give your learners plenty of practice!
| –ib: | bib, fib, rib |
| -id: | bid, did, hid, kid, lid, rid |
| -ig: | big, dig, fig, gig, pig, rig, wig, zig |
| -im: | dim, him, rim |
| -in: | bin, fin, pin, tin, win |
| -ip: | dip, hip, lip, nip, rip, sip, tip, zip |
| -it: | bit, fit, hit, kit, lit, pit, sit, wit, zit |
| -ix: | fix, mix, six |
| other: | his |
CVC o Words List
Below is the CVC words list for the short-o vowel sound or the “ah” sound. A good visual representation for children is to remind them that the /o/ makes the same sound as in “octopus”.
This list contains 42 words for practicing the /o/ sound.
I have included a list of 5 words that contain the -ow ending. Note that some educators choose to wait until further lessons to introduce this word family.
Also, take note of the -og family. Where I am from, we actually pronounce words, such as ‘fog’ and ‘log’ as ‘f-au-g’ and ‘l-au-g’.
| –ob: | cob, gob, job, mob, rob, sob |
| -od: | god, nod, rod, sod |
| -og: | bog, cog, dog, fog, hog, jog, log |
| -op: | bop, cop, hop, mop, pop, top |
| -ot: | bot, cot, dot, got, hot, jot, lot, not, pot, rot, tot |
| -ow: | cow, how, now, vow, wow |
| -ox: | box, fox |
| other: | mom |
CVC u Words List
Here is the list of short-u vowel sounds. These words consist of making the “uh” sound as in “up”. This list of of CVC words consists of 38 words.
| –ub: | cub, hub, nub, rub, sub, tub |
| -ud: | bud, dud, mud |
| -ug: | bug, dug, hug, jug, lug, pug, rug, tug, mug |
| -um: | gum, hum, sum, yum |
| -un: | bun, fun, gun, nun, run, sun |
| -up: | cup, pup, yup |
| -ut: | cut, gut, hut, nut, rut |
| other: | bus, tux |
Final Thoughts
Using this CVC words list, you can create plenty of activities and reading opportunities for your little learners. You can help them build confidence as they begin their literacy journey. And get them on the right path, for hopefully, a life-long love of learning!