Kindergarten spelling
Kindergarten Word Family Words
Word family lists for kindergarten, from -at and -an to -ug and -un, grouped by ending. Play hangman with each family, or print a worksheet.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: Three-letter words grouped by their ending (rime), so children see that changing the first letter makes a new word.
A word family is a group of words that share the same ending, called a rime: cat, hat, sat, bat and rat all end in -at. Children learn the ending once and then change the first letter to make a new word. This page groups the words by family, including -at, -an, -ap, -ig, -in, -it, -op, -ot, -ug, -un, -et and -en.
Every word here is a short vowel CVC word, taken from the same pattern lists as the short a, e, i, o and u pages. Families are useful because they turn spelling into a matter of swapping a single sound at the front, which matches how kindergarten children are learning to separate words into sounds. The groupings show which families produce many words (-at, -an, -it, -ug) and which produce only a handful (-op, -en), so you can plan lessons that do not run dry.
79 entries. Our solver needed 7.9 wrong guesses on average: 0 easy, 15 medium and 64 hard. The toughest is pop (17 misses), the quickest sat (2).
-at
- cat Hard · 7
- sat Medium · 2
- hat Medium · 4
- bat Hard · 11
- rat Medium · 3
- vat Hard · 12
-an
- can Hard · 7
- man Medium · 4
- fan Hard · 8
- ran Medium · 3
- van Hard · 14
- ban Hard · 13
- pan Hard · 9
- tan Medium · 3
-ap
- map Hard · 11
- cap Hard · 8
- gap Hard · 9
- tap Hard · 10
- lap Hard · 10
- rap Hard · 10
- nap Medium · 3
- sap Hard · 9
-ig
- big Hard · 12
- dig Hard · 7
- pig Hard · 10
- fig Hard · 9
- gig Hard · 7
- rig Hard · 7
- wig Hard · 11
-in
- win Hard · 11
- pin Hard · 9
- bin Hard · 13
- tin Medium · 3
- fin Hard · 8
-it
- bit Hard · 13
- hit Hard · 6
- fit Hard · 9
- sit Medium · 4
- kit Hard · 14
- pit Hard · 10
- lit Hard · 7
- wit Hard · 12
-op
- top Hard · 7
- pop Hard · 17
- hop Hard · 10
- cop Hard · 9
- mop Hard · 9
-ot
- not Medium · 2
- got Hard · 10
- lot Hard · 5
- hot Medium · 4
- pot Hard · 9
- dot Hard · 6
- rot Medium · 3
-ug
- bug Hard · 9
- hug Hard · 7
- dug Hard · 9
- rug Hard · 6
- mug Hard · 10
- tug Hard · 5
- jug Hard · 12
-un
- run Hard · 7
- fun Hard · 10
- sun Hard · 6
- bun Hard · 5
- pun Hard · 11
-et
- get Hard · 9
- let Hard · 6
- set Medium · 4
- met Hard · 7
- bet Hard · 12
- net Medium · 3
- wet Hard · 10
- pet Hard · 8
-en
- men Hard · 7
- ten Medium · 3
- pen Hard · 8
- den Hard · 6
- hen Hard · 5
Words worth a closer look
- catThe most common anchor word for the -at family and a good starting point for early readers.
- bigPart of the -ig family with pig, dig and fig. Rhyming helps children remember the ending without sounding it out each time.
- bugThe -ug family has many members, so it is a good one to use when children need success quickly.
- henThe -en family is small, which makes hen a useful reminder that not every ending has a long list.
- topBelongs to the -op family. Pair it with pot from -ot to practice telling the two endings apart.
- netPart of the -et family. Contrast it with nut and not to show how one vowel change creates a different word.
Teaching it
Use one family per lesson. Write the ending on a card, then let children add letter tiles at the front and read each word aloud. Ask for a nonsense word too, since reading a made-up word like zat proves the child is decoding rather than guessing. After a short oral session, move to writing: say a word from the family and have the child write it.
The main mistake is mixing up the ending vowel with a similar sound, for instance writing -et when the word is -it. Another is mirror reversals of b and d in bat, bit and bug. For hangman, announce the family first, then let the group guess the missing first letter. That narrows the game to a reasonable puzzle for five-year-olds, and the printable sheet gives each family a page to review.
Print a Kindergarten Word Family 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
- Kindergarten CVC Short A WordsShort a CVC words for kindergarten: cat, map, van, bag and more. Play the hangman game, read the list with difficulty scores, or print a sheet.
- Kindergarten CVC Short E WordsShort e CVC words for kindergarten: red, bed, pen, net, wet, leg and more. Play hangman with the list, check difficulty scores, or print a sheet.
- Kindergarten CVC Short I WordsShort i CVC words for kindergarten: big, pig, sit, kid, win, six and more. Play the hangman game, read the scored list, or print a practice sheet.
- Kindergarten CVC Short O WordsShort o CVC words for kindergarten: top, hot, fox, box, pot, mop and more. Play hangman with the list, see difficulty scores, or print a worksheet.
- Kindergarten CVC Short U WordsShort u CVC words for kindergarten: sun, bug, cup, mud, rug, hug and more. Play the hangman game, read the scored list, or print a worksheet.