4th grade spelling words
A 4th grade spelling list is built from word parts: syllable patterns, prefixes and suffixes, Greek and Latin roots, homophones and the words that break the rules. This page prints all 36 weeks, fifteen words each, as one list for the year.
Free printable PDF, 4th 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 | basket, blanket, chapter, contest, dentist, kitchen, napkin, problem, publish, sudden, winter, window, trumpet, velvet, tunnel |
| 2 | bacon, basic, event, fever, item, moment, music, paper, pilot, robot, silent, chapter, problem, behavior, location |
| 3 | disagree, disappear, discover, dishonest, dislike, dismiss, disobey, disorder, distrust, distaste, disconnect, bacon, silent, disappoint, discourage |
| 4 | precook, preheat, prepay, preschool, preset, pretest, preview, prewash, prefix, pregame, precaution, disagree, dislike, prediction, prehistoric |
| 5 | misbehave, miscount, misjudge, mislead, mismatch, misplace, misprint, misread, misspell, mistake, mistreat, preview, pretest, misunderstand, misfortune |
| 6 | action, addition, attention, caution, collection, direction, education, fraction, invention, question, station, misplace, mistake, celebration, imagination |
| 7 | adventure, capture, creature, culture, feature, fixture, future, mixture, nature, picture, texture, action, question, temperature, agriculture |
| 8 | dangerous, enormous, famous, generous, jealous, joyous, nervous, poisonous, marvelous, tremendous, humorous, creature, future, mysterious, courageous |
| 9 | agreeable, breakable, comfortable, enjoyable, favorable, laughable, reasonable, remarkable, washable, valuable, acceptable, famous, nervous, dependable, unbelievable |
| 10 | eight, eighteen, eighty, freight, neigh, neighbor, sleigh, weigh, weight, vein, veil, valuable, enjoyable, neighborhood, heavyweight |
| 11 | brief, chief, field, niece, piece, shield, thief, shriek, relief, believe, achieve, eight, weigh, retrieve, mischief |
| 12 | autumn, column, comb, crumb, debt, doubt, half, island, listen, often, whistle, chief, believe, solemn, rhyme |
| 13 | cactus, camera, canyon, castle, celery, cement, census, citizen, circus, cyclone, concert, island, listen, certificate, cafeteria |
| 14 | gallon, gather, goggles, gospel, gadget, gesture, ginger, gymnast, general, genius, garbage, circus, citizen, gigantic, geography |
| 15 | collision, confusion, conclusion, decision, division, erosion, explosion, invasion, occasion, television, version, general, genius, discussion, possession |
| 16 | above, afraid, against, among, between, machine, parade, police, supply, surprise, tonight, decision, division, character, necessary |
| 17 | brain, captain, certain, complain, contain, curtain, explain, fountain, mountain, remain, claim, police, surprise, maintain, proclaim |
| 18 | bought, brought, thought, fought, sought, cough, rough, tough, enough, caught, taught, captain, explain, although, daughter |
| 19 | afternoon, basketball, earthquake, everybody, fingernail, grandmother, skateboard, strawberry, underground, waterfall, windshield, thought, enough, thunderstorm, extraordinary |
| 20 | harvest, journey, jungle, lantern, lecture, manage, mineral, orbit, orchard, pattern, plastic, earthquake, everybody, astonish, establish |
| 21 | burglar, calendar, cellar, collar, dollar, grammar, sugar, doctor, mirror, error, anchor, journey, pattern, particular, spectator |
| 22 | answer, bother, clever, either, father, gather, hunger, litter, member, thunder, whisper, dollar, doctor, character, messenger |
| 23 | allowed, aloud, ceiling, sealing, cellar, seller, course, coarse, creak, creek, pedal, answer, member, peddle, counsel |
| 24 | principal, principle, stationary, stationery, capital, capitol, council, counsel, desert, dessert, presence, ceiling, course, berry, bury |
| 25 | children, women, mice, geese, teeth, leaves, shelves, knives, wolves, heroes, potatoes, principal, capital, tomatoes, scissors |
| 26 | artist, chemist, dentist, florist, pianist, scientist, tourist, librarian, magician, musician, electrician, children, leaves, comedian, pediatrician |
| 27 | agreement, argument, basement, equipment, excitement, government, instrument, moment, movement, payment, treatment, artist, musician, environment, advertisement |
| 28 | darkness, fairness, fitness, illness, kindness, sadness, sickness, stillness, weakness, brightness, goodness, movement, payment, awareness, forgiveness |
| 29 | animal, capital, central, final, general, hospital, journal, local, nickel, novel, travel, darkness, kindness, principal, caramel |
| 30 | council, evil, pencil, pupil, stencil, ankle, bundle, candle, knuckle, sparkle, animal, journal, utensil, obstacle, April |
| 31 | wreath, wreck, wrench, wrestle, wring, wrinkle, knapsack, kneel, knight, knit, knuckles, pencil, candle, wristwatch, knothole |
| 32 | liquid, mosquito, quarrel, quart, quarter, question, quick, quiet, quilt, quite, squirrel, wreck, knight, earthquake, questionnaire |
| 33 | athletic, attic, basic, comic, fabric, frantic, magic, music, panic, picnic, public, quarter, quiet, electric, fantastic |
| 34 | blockade, decade, grade, invade, lemonade, parade, beside, collide, divide, provide, attitude, athletic, public, gratitude, altitude |
| 35 | although, beautiful, business, calendar, February, forty, ninety, receive, separate, tomorrow, Wednesday, parade, divide, restaurant, vegetable |
| 36 | curiosity, definitely, embarrass, exaggerate, independence, knowledge, privilege, recommend, rhythm, vacuum, occurrence, receive, separate, necessary, mischievous |
How the year is built
The lists open with two-syllable words sorted by their syllable pattern, closed and open, then the vowel sounds in longer words. From there the year is mostly morphology: prefixes and their meanings, suffixes and the spelling changes they cause, "happy" to "happiness", and the first Greek and Latin roots, "tele", "port", "graph". Homophones and commonly misspelled words are spread across the weeks.
Fifteen words a week is the usual 4th grade load. The weekly worksheet page prints one week; this page is the year.
Using the list
Ask for the meaning of the prefix or root before the spelling, so "transport" is "carry across" and not a string of letters. For the suffix weeks, write the base word beside each list word. A 4th grader should also be reading the list for words they already know and skipping them; the week's real list is the five or six that are new.
Common questions
- What if the words are too easy or too hard?
- Print the year above or below and use it instead; the pages for 3rd and 5th grade follow the same shape, and the patterns overlap at the edges.