2nd Grade spelling
2nd Grade OR Words
Spelling words with or for the sound in corn, like for, born, horse and fork. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with an answer key.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: Words where o and r together make the /or/ sound, as in corn.
Like ar, the letters or are an r-controlled vowel pair. The o no longer says its own sound: in corn, fork, horse and storm it makes the /or/ sound. Short words such as for, or and more are among the most common in English, so students meet the pattern long before they study it.
Every word on this list was checked against the pronunciation dictionary. You will find the plain ones, like born, cord, fort and torn, as well as words that add a silent e, such as core, bore, wore and sore, and a few that spell /or/ differently inside, such as door and sword. The word forms of the pattern are not all the same shape, which is exactly what makes the list useful for a second grader who is ready to see variations.
30 entries. Our solver needed 5.6 wrong guesses on average: 0 easy, 10 medium and 20 hard. The toughest is for (11 misses), the quickest horse (2).
- for Hard · 11
- more Hard · 6
- form Hard · 7
- force Medium · 3
- born Hard · 8
- door Hard · 5
- sort Medium · 3
- horse Medium · 2
- core Hard · 5
- port Hard · 6
- fort Hard · 5
- forth Hard · 7
- sword Hard · 6
- wore Hard · 9
- worn Hard · 7
- corn Hard · 5
- horn Medium · 4
- ore Medium · 2
- torn Medium · 3
- fork Hard · 7
- pork Hard · 8
- sore Medium · 3
- cord Hard · 6
- bore Hard · 10
- sworn Medium · 4
- porch Hard · 7
- forge Medium · 4
- torch Hard · 6
- cork Hard · 6
- tore Medium · 2
Words worth a closer look
- swordThe w is silent, a link to the silent letter list. Students often write sord.
- doorThe oo spells the /or/ sound here, which is unusual. It does not rhyme with the oo in moon.
- wornThe w changes the sound slightly in some dictionaries, but this spelling is still the usual way to write it.
- forthEnds in th, like fourth, with which it is often confused. Forth means onward, fourth is the number.
- porchCombines the or sound with the ch digraph. Easy to spell once students see ch as a unit.
Teaching it
The classic errors are leaving out the r (writing hose for horse) and confusing the or sound with the ar sound, since they sound close in some accents. Say both words aloud and have students feel their mouths: ar opens wide, or rounds the lips. Reading sorts such as car versus core help.
For a hangman round, tell players the word has the or sound but not where it sits, and let them guess. Words like door and sword make good bonus challenges, since neither follows the simple or plus consonant shape. Add them to the class wall as exceptions to the or pattern so students can spot them later in their reading.
Print a 2nd Grade OR 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.