Short Vowel Word List

Short vowels are the sounds a, e, i, o and u make in words like cat, bed, pig, hot and sun. They are the first vowel sounds children learn to read. This free short vowel word list is organized by word family (words that share an ending, like -at or -ig), followed by longer short vowel words for growing readers.

Short vowel word families

Short a words (a as in apple)

• -at: cat, bat, hat, mat, rat, sat
• -an: can, fan, man, pan, ran, van
• -ap: cap, map, nap, tap, lap, gap
• -ag: bag, rag, tag, wag

Short e words (e as in egg)

• -et: jet, net, pet, wet, get, set
• -en: hen, pen, ten, men, den
• -ed: bed, red, fed, led, wed

Short i words (i as in itch)

• -ig: big, dig, fig, pig, wig
• -in: bin, fin, pin, tin, win
• -it: hit, kit, pit, sit, fit
• -ip: dip, hip, lip, sip, zip

Short o words (o as in octopus)

• -op: mop, hop, pop, top
• -ot: cot, dot, got, hot, lot, pot
• -og: dog, fog, hog, jog, log

Short u words (u as in up)

• -ug: bug, hug, jug, mug, rug, tug
• -un: bun, fun, run, sun
• -ut: cut, hut, nut
• -ub: cub, rub, tub, sub

Short vowel words with blends (for growing readers)

Once CVC words are easy, children move on to short vowel words with two consonants together, like the fr in frog or the mp in jump. The vowel still makes its short sound.

Short a	Short e	Short i	Short o	Short u
flag	nest	milk	frog	drum
clap	best	gift	stop	jump
crab	desk	swim	spot	plum
hand	step	skip	drop	bunk
sand	sled	twin	pond	bump
camp	tent	list	plot	hunt

To print this list, use your browser’s Print button (Ctrl+P on Windows, Cmd+P on a Mac).

Tips for teaching short vowel sounds

• Teach one vowel at a time, using a key word for each sound (apple, egg, itch, octopus, up).
• Use word families so children see the pattern: if they can read cat, they can read bat, hat and mat.
• Mix the vowels once each one is solid: bag, beg, big, bog, bug.
• Practice in decodable books, where every word follows the rules your child has learned.

Miss Wendy’s Favorite Phonetic Books are 18 decodable readers built on short vowel sounds and hard consonants, with only three sight words (a, the and is), so children can practice short vowels in real stories.

More free practice: CVC words list · letter sounds chart · all free phonics printables