4th Grade spelling
4th Grade OUGH Words
Sort ough words by sound: though, through, thought, tough and drought. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet with answers.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: The trickiest letter string in English: ough can be said at least five ways. The groups sort these words by sound.
Ough is the most unpredictable letter string in English. The same four letters can be said at least five ways: though and dough end in a long o, through ends in oo, thought and bought end in aw, enough and tough end in uff, and drought rhymes with out. There is no rule that tells you which sound a given word will use, which makes ough a pure memory job, best done by grouping words by sound.
This list is split into five groups by pronunciation. The though group includes although, thorough, dough and doughnut. The through group has through, throughout and breakthrough. The bought group has thought, brought, fought, sought and ought. The tough group has enough, rough and tougher, and drought stands alone. Fourth grade is when students start writing longer pieces, so words like although, through and thought are already in their working vocabulary and are worth learning properly.
31 entries. Our solver needed 2.7 wrong guesses on average: 8 easy, 18 medium and 5 hard. The toughest is rough (7 misses), the quickest tougher (0).
ough as in though
- although Medium · 3
- thoroughly Medium · 2
- thorough Medium · 3
- dough Hard · 5
- borough Medium · 3
- boroughs Medium · 3
- doughnut Medium · 3
- doughnuts Medium · 3
- thoroughbred Easy · 1
- thoroughfare Easy · 1
ough as in through
- through Medium · 4
- throughout Medium · 2
- breakthrough Easy · 1
ough as in bought
- thought Medium · 4
- brought Hard · 5
- thoughts Medium · 3
- fought Hard · 5
- sought Medium · 3
- ought Medium · 3
- thoughtful Medium · 2
- thoughtfully Medium · 2
- thoughtless Easy · 1
ough as in tough
- enough Easy · 1
- tough Hard · 6
- rough Hard · 7
- roughly Medium · 3
- tougher Easy · 0
- toughest Easy · 0
- rougher Easy · 1
- roughness Medium · 2
ough as in drought
- drought Medium · 3
Words worth a closer look
- throughThree letters longer than its sound suggests. Compare with threw, which means the same movement but is shorter and a homophone.
- thoughtPast tense of think, and an anchor for the aw group. Students often drop the h or the gh.
- enoughEnds in the uff sound, like tough and rough. Some students write enuff, which is how it sounds.
- droughtThe only word in its group. The ough rhymes with out, so it stands alone.
- thoroughNot the same as through, even though the spelling is close. Say it aloud: thur-oh.
Teaching it
Teach by sound, never by letters. Write one anchor word from each group on the board (though, through, thought, tough, drought) and ask students to place every new word under an anchor. Common errors drop the gh (thot, enuf) or move it (thorogh). Notice that the past-tense bought, brought, fought, thought and sought all share the aw sound, which gives a ready-made rhyme set.
In hangman, the ough cluster is hard to guess because the letters are not in a predictable order, so give the first letter and the length and let students suggest sounds before letters. Print the worksheet and have students write a sentence for each anchor word, then read them aloud to check the sound.
Print a 4th Grade OUGH 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
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- 4th Grade Words Ending in Able and IbleWords ending in able and ible: comfortable, reliable, possible, visible. Play hangman with the list or print a worksheet with answers.