3rd grade spelling words

7 free lists and 258 words, grouped by spelling pattern. Hear every word, print a practice sheet, or take a test online.

y to i words Change y to i, except before -ing cried, babies, happier, tried… 34 words -er and -est words The ending rules apply here too bigger, biggest, faster, nicest… 38 words Prefixes un-, re-, dis-, mis-, pre- A prefix changes the meaning, not the base word's spelling unhappy, unlock, undo, redo… 33 words Suffixes -ful, -less, -ly, -ness, -ment These suffixes just add on careful, helpful, cheerful, hopeless… 39 words Two-syllable words with vowel patterns Spell one syllable at a time rainbow, garden, sailboat, harvest… 37 words Unstressed endings -er, -or, -ar words The ending sounds the same: learn each word's spelling teacher, doctor, dollar, after… 38 words -tion and -sion words /shun/ is usually -tion; /zhun/ is -sion nation, action, motion, vision… 39 words

What spelling words should a 3rd grade student know?

Third grade spelling turns to how words are built: prefixes, suffixes and the rule for changing y to i. Children also spell longer two-syllable words and the endings -tion and -sion.

These lists follow the order US structured-literacy programs teach spelling, so each one builds on the last. Schools differ, so use your child's own class list first if they bring one home.

Practicing at home

  • Practice one pattern at a time, so the rule stays in view.
  • Say the word, have your child spell it from memory, then check it together.
  • Keep it short and often. A few words a day is easier to keep up than one long session.
  • Come back to the words they missed a few days later.

FOR GROWN-UPS

Sheets built around your child's tricky words

A list like these is the same for every child. With Hero Membership, Wordstone prints practice sheets from the sounds and words your child finds hard, and a certificate for each spelling unit they master.

  • Practice sheets from your child's own trickiest sounds
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A sample practice sheet for a hero named BraveOtter42, with the letters ai and ou blanked out of words and sentences to fill in.
Sample practice sheet
A sample certificate of mastery for BraveOtter42, for the spelling of ai and ay.
Sample certificate