5th grade spelling words
A 5th grade spelling list is organised by Latin and Greek roots, the prefixes and suffixes that attach to them, and the spelling patterns of longer words. This page prints all 36 weeks, fifteen words each, as one list for the year.
Free printable PDF, 5th 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 | import, export, report, support, transport, portable, porter, deport, reporter, important, airport, passport, seaport, transportation, supportive |
| 2 | form, formal, format, formula, inform, uniform, reform, transform, platform, formation, information, report, import, performance, transformation |
| 3 | dictate, dictionary, predict, verdict, contradict, dictator, diction, edict, prediction, dedicate, indicate, inform, uniform, contradiction, unpredictable |
| 4 | structure, construct, instruct, destruction, instructor, construction, obstruct, restructure, instruction, structural, destructive, predict, verdict, infrastructure, reconstruction |
| 5 | graph, paragraph, photograph, autograph, biography, geography, telegraph, graphic, phonograph, calligraphy, photographer, structure, instruct, autobiography, choreography |
| 6 | phone, phonics, telephone, microphone, symphony, saxophone, megaphone, homophone, phoneme, earphone, headphones, paragraph, photograph, xylophone, cacophony |
| 7 | meter, thermometer, centimeter, diameter, kilometer, perimeter, barometer, speedometer, millimeter, metric, geometry, telephone, symphony, odometer, parameter |
| 8 | allowance, ambulance, appearance, assistance, attendance, balance, distance, entrance, importance, performance, insurance, diameter, perimeter, significance, circumstance |
| 9 | absence, audience, confidence, difference, evidence, excellence, experience, influence, patience, presence, sentence, balance, distance, independence, consequence |
| 10 | assistant, constant, distant, elegant, ignorant, instant, pleasant, servant, absent, silent, urgent, audience, patience, brilliant, confident |
| 11 | edible, flexible, horrible, invisible, legible, possible, responsible, reversible, sensible, terrible, visible, instant, urgent, incredible, irresistible |
| 12 | classify, clarify, identify, magnify, notify, simplify, terrify, apologize, memorize, organize, realize, possible, terrible, personalize, electrify |
| 13 | interact, interfere, international, internet, interrupt, interview, transfer, translate, transparent, transplant, transaction, classify, organize, intermediate, transcontinental |
| 14 | subject, submarine, submerge, subtract, suburb, subway, superb, superior, supermarket, superstar, supervise, interrupt, transfer, subterranean, superintendent |
| 15 | receive, receipt, deceive, ceiling, conceit, perceive, either, neither, seize, leisure, protein, submarine, subtract, conceivable, counterfeit |
| 16 | curious, delicious, furious, glorious, gracious, mysterious, obvious, previous, serious, various, courteous, receive, either, spontaneous, miscellaneous |
| 17 | doubtful, faithful, graceful, merciful, pitiful, plentiful, skillful, successful, breathless, countless, merciless, curious, serious, resourceful, relentless |
| 18 | align, campaign, design, foreign, gnaw, gnome, reign, resign, honest, hour, heir, graceful, doubtful, solemnly, designate |
| 19 | although, borough, dough, thorough, throughout, bough, drought, plough, thoughtful, roughly, toughen, design, foreign, thoroughfare, breakthrough |
| 20 | bargain, certain, curtain, villain, mountain, fountain, captain, engine, famine, genuine, imagine, although, thorough, masculine, discipline |
| 21 | sandwich, hamburger, frankfurter, cologne, denim, jersey, marathon, atlas, titanic, volt, bargain, captain, boycott, silhouette, Olympics |
| 22 | biology, geology, ecology, zoology, mythology, technology, psychology, archaeology, meteorology, anthology, apology, sandwich, marathon, terminology, methodology |
| 23 | beginning, committee, controlled, equipped, forgetting, occurred, preferred, referring, regretted, transmitted, admitted, biology, apology, occurrence, committed |
| 24 | aisle, isle, bazaar, bizarre, canvas, canvass, cite, site, complement, compliment, cymbal, beginning, occurred, symbol, ascent |
| 25 | assent, bridal, bridle, hangar, hanger, hostel, hostile, lightning, lightening, muscle, mussel, cite, site, stationary, stationery |
| 26 | inspect, inspector, respect, spectacle, spectator, spectrum, prospect, suspect, aspect, perspective, respectful, muscle, lightning, retrospect, spectacular |
| 27 | eject, inject, object, project, reject, subject, injection, objection, projection, rejection, projector, inspect, respect, interjection, trajectory |
| 28 | abrupt, bankrupt, corrupt, disrupt, erupt, interrupt, rupture, eruption, disruption, interruption, corruption, object, project, bankruptcy, irruption |
| 29 | attract, contract, distract, extract, subtract, traction, tractor, attraction, distraction, subtraction, retract, erupt, disrupt, contractor, protracted |
| 30 | animal, camera, celebrate, definite, delicate, desperate, elephant, separate, temperature, vegetable, chocolate, attract, tractor, deliberate, considerable |
| 31 | electrician, magician, physician, politician, technician, decision, revision, mission, session, portion, motion, separate, definite, profession, transmission |
| 32 | accept, except, affect, effect, advice, advise, device, devise, breath, breathe, cloth, mission, motion, clothe, conscience |
| 33 | boundary, library, necessary, ordinary, primary, secondary, bakery, bravery, mystery, factory, history, accept, advice, dictionary, laboratory |
| 34 | ballet, beret, bouquet, buffet, chalet, cliché, croquet, debris, depot, genre, plateau, library, history, silhouette, camouflage |
| 35 | achievement, acquaintance, amateur, apparent, argument, athlete, committee, existence, grammar, guarantee, harass, ballet, depot, maintenance, questionnaire |
| 36 | conscience, conscious, exaggerate, fluorescent, guarantee, lieutenant, mischievous, pneumonia, privilege, rhythm, vacuum, argument, athlete, reservoir, bureaucracy |
How the year is built
Most weeks are a root and its family: "port" gives "import", "export", "report", "support" and "transport" in the first week, and the year works through the roots that build the most words. Between them sit the suffix weeks, with the spelling changes for "-tion", "-sion", "-able" and "-ible", and the words with silent letters and unstressed vowels that have to be learned one at a time.
Fifteen words a week is the standard load. The weekly worksheet prints one week; this page is the year.
Using the list
Have the child write the root's meaning at the top of the week and the meaning of each word beneath it, since the spelling follows from the meaning. For the "-able" and "-ible" weeks, ask whether the base is a whole word: "readable" keeps its base, "visible" does not. Dictation in sentences, not in lists, is what the grade expects.
Common questions
- Why are the lists grouped by root rather than by sound?
- By 5th grade most spelling errors are in the parts of a word that do not sound the way they are written. Knowing that "sign" and "signal" share a root explains the silent g in a way no sound rule can.