2nd grade spelling words
A 2nd grade spelling list moves from short vowel words to the long vowel spellings, r-controlled vowels, the common endings and the first two-syllable words. This page prints all 36 weeks, twelve words each, as one list for the year.
Free printable PDF, 2nd grade.
One page, black and white, prints the same every time.
What is on the sheet
The table below is the sheet as it prints with these options: By week.
| Week | Words |
|---|---|
| 1 | cat, hand, last, flag, snap, glad, plant, stamp, and, has, basket, magnet |
| 2 | sit, win, dig, fish, milk, swim, grin, twist, cat, hand, picnic, insect |
| 3 | hot, job, drop, spot, frog, clock, stop, pond, sit, fish, contest, hopscotch |
| 4 | run, bug, cup, jump, drum, truck, lunch, stuck, hot, drop, until, sudden |
| 5 | bed, ten, help, nest, send, sled, desk, tent, run, jump, seven, better |
| 6 | black, lift, soft, dust, west, grass, print, blend, bed, bug, napkin, zigzag |
| 7 | make, late, cake, name, gate, wave, plane, shape, nest, help, mistake, pancake |
| 8 | ride, time, five, kite, line, smile, white, prize, make, name, inside, beside |
| 9 | home, bone, nose, rope, note, cube, mule, tune, ride, five, alone, excuse |
| 10 | game, life, hope, cute, save, drive, stone, flame, home, time, escape, invite |
| 11 | ship, shop, wish, brush, chin, chest, lunch, bench, game, hope, sandwich, shoelace |
| 12 | this, then, thick, think, bath, teeth, when, white, ship, chin, whisper, thunder |
| 13 | stop, snake, smell, swing, green, drink, place, climb, then, when, street, splash |
| 14 | best, hand, camp, sand, felt, mask, band, list, smell, drink, almost, thousand |
| 15 | see, tree, keep, green, eat, team, read, beach, best, camp, between, peanut |
| 16 | rain, mail, wait, train, day, play, stay, away, see, eat, always, painter |
| 17 | boat, coat, road, soap, snow, grow, show, yellow, rain, play, window, rowboat |
| 18 | high, night, light, right, my, try, fly, sky, boat, snow, bright, tonight |
| 19 | clean, paint, float, might, dream, gray, slow, why, night, team, rainbow, daylight |
| 20 | car, far, arm, park, farm, dark, start, shark, clean, dream, garden, market |
| 21 | for, corn, born, storm, short, north, horse, sport, car, park, morning, popcorn |
| 22 | her, fern, bird, girl, first, turn, hurt, nurse, corn, storm, circus, turtle |
| 23 | moon, food, room, school, book, look, good, foot, bird, first, balloon, footprint |
| 24 | out, loud, found, house, cow, down, town, brown, moon, book, around, flower |
| 25 | oil, coin, join, point, boy, toy, joy, enjoy, found, house, voice, noise |
| 26 | saw, paw, draw, straw, lawn, yawn, haul, because, coin, enjoy, august, dinosaur |
| 27 | ring, king, song, bring, bank, pink, thank, trunk, draw, because, spring, blanket |
| 28 | bell, hill, kiss, dress, off, kick, rock, black, ring, thank, mitten, classroom |
| 29 | cats, dogs, hands, boxes, wishes, dishes, benches, glasses, bell, rock, foxes, brushes |
| 30 | jumped, played, wanted, helped, walked, needed, called, asked, dishes, boxes, planted, painted |
| 31 | going, doing, eating, reading, running, sitting, hopping, swimming, jumped, played, getting, shopping |
| 32 | cry, cried, try, tried, baby, babies, penny, pennies, running, eating, carried, stories |
| 33 | isn't, can't, don't, didn't, it's, I'm, we're, you're, cried, babies, wasn't, they're |
| 34 | into, inside, sunset, bedroom, birthday, baseball, rainbow, popcorn, can't, it's, butterfly, grandmother |
| 35 | see, sea, won, one, road, rode, meet, meat, birthday, baseball, would, wood |
| 36 | school, because, always, between, morning, thunder, balloon, butterfly, they're, carried, surprise, different |
How the year is built
The autumn reviews the short vowels and blends from 1st grade at a faster pace and moves into the long vowel teams. The winter covers the vowels with r, "car", "her", "bird", the diphthongs "ou" and "oi", and the endings "-ed" and "-ing" with their doubling rule. The spring brings compound words, contractions and the first two-syllable words, which is where a 2nd grader learns to spell by chunks rather than by sounds.
Twelve words a week is a step up from 1st grade. The weekly worksheet prints one week as a practice sheet; this page is the year's list.
Using the list
Sort the week's words by the pattern before writing them. For the doubling weeks, have the child explain why "hop" becomes "hopping" but "hope" becomes "hoping". Dictate a sentence using two of the words rather than the words alone; spelling in a sentence is what the grade asks for.
Common questions
- Why twelve words rather than ten?
- Most 2nd grade programmes run twelve to fifteen words a week. Twelve keeps the list to one page and leaves room for the child's own misspelled words to be added.