2nd Grade spelling
2nd Grade OI and OY Words
Spelling words with oi and oy for the sound in coin and boy. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: The /oi/ sound: oi in the middle of a word (coin), oy at the end (boy).
Both oi and oy spell the same diphthong, a vowel sound that glides from one position to another, as in coin and boy. The choice of spelling depends on position. Oi appears in the middle of a word, as in point, oil, noise and soil. Oy appears at the end, as in boy, joy, toy and enjoy. That makes this one of the more reliable rules in the spelling system.
This list is arranged in two groups so students can see the rule at work. The oi group has point, oil, voice, join, coin and boil. The oy group has boy, enjoy, destroy, employ and annoy. A few longer words, such as convoy, deploy and alloy, give stronger readers something to try. We checked each word by pronunciation. Moist is on the list as an oi word, and soy is the shortest of the oy words. English words almost never end in oi, which is the rule students should leave with.
28 entries. Our solver needed 4.9 wrong guesses on average: 1 easy, 15 medium and 12 hard. The toughest is joy (14 misses), the quickest envoy (1).
oi
- point Hard · 5
- oil Medium · 4
- voice Medium · 3
- join Hard · 6
- joint Hard · 6
- noise Medium · 2
- soil Medium · 2
- coin Medium · 4
- void Hard · 8
- boil Hard · 7
- spoil Medium · 4
- foil Hard · 6
- coil Hard · 5
- moist Medium · 3
oy
- boy Hard · 10
- enjoy Medium · 2
- joy Hard · 14
- destroy Medium · 3
- toy Hard · 9
- employ Medium · 2
- cowboy Medium · 3
- convoy Medium · 3
- deploy Medium · 3
- soy Hard · 7
- alloy Medium · 4
- envoy Easy · 1
- annoy Medium · 4
- ploy Hard · 6
Words worth a closer look
- voiceSilent e after the c, which makes the c soft. Students often spell it vois.
- moistStarts with a consonant but ends with st, so the oi sits in the middle. Easy to spell once students see the pattern.
- destroyThe oy is at the end of a longer word. A good example that the rule works for more than short words.
- employEm plus ploy. The oy is on the last syllable, so the rule still holds.
- soyOnly three letters, with two vowels and a rare consonant. A hard word to guess at hangman.
Teaching it
The standard error is using the wrong spelling for the position, writing boi for boy or poynt for point. Teach students to ask where the sound falls: at the end of the word or inside it. A quick sorting game using index cards, with oi on one side of a desk and oy on the other, makes the rule visible.
Play hangman with a hint: the sound is oi, but the spelling depends on the position. Players who understand the rule will guess o and y early for short words and o and i for longer ones. After each round, ask the class to explain how they decided. Students who can say the rule aloud are far more likely to apply it when writing.
Print a 2nd Grade OI and OY Hangman worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- 2nd Grade AI WordsSpelling words with the ai vowel team for long a, like rain, mail and paint. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade AY WordsSpelling words ending in ay, such as day, play, away and birthday. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade EE WordsSpelling words with ee for the long e sound, including see, need, week and queen. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade EA WordsSpelling words where ea makes the long e sound, like team, meat, steam and beach. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade OA WordsSpelling words with oa for the long o sound, such as boat, coat, road and soap. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
- 2nd Grade IGH WordsSpelling words with igh for the long i sound, like night, light, high and bright. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.