6th grade spelling words
A 6th grade spelling list is a vocabulary list as much as a spelling one: Latin and Greek roots and the academic words built on them, the suffixes that change a word's part of speech, and the words most often misspelled in middle school.
Free printable PDF, 6th 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 | conduct, conductor, deduct, educate, induce, introduce, produce, product, production, reduce, reproduce, chamber, timber, reduction, introduction |
| 2 | describe, description, inscribe, inscription, manuscript, prescribe, prescription, scribble, script, scripture, subscribe, conduct, produce, transcription, indescribable |
| 3 | admit, commit, emit, mission, missile, omit, permit, submit, transmit, dismiss, missionary, describe, script, intermission, transmission |
| 4 | compel, expel, propel, repel, pulse, impulse, propeller, repellent, expulsion, compulsory, pulsate, admit, permit, propulsion, compelling |
| 5 | microscope, periscope, stethoscope, telescope, kaleidoscope, telegram, telephone, television, telepathy, telecast, telegraph, compel, pulse, microscopic, telecommunication |
| 6 | autobiography, autograph, automatic, automobile, autopilot, biography, biology, biosphere, antibiotic, biodegradable, symbiosis, microscope, television, autonomous, biotechnology |
| 7 | chronic, chronicle, chronological, synchronize, bicycle, cyclone, recycle, tricycle, unicycle, cyclical, motorcycle, autograph, biology, anachronism, encyclopedia |
| 8 | antibody, antidote, antifreeze, antisocial, antiseptic, counteract, counterclockwise, counterfeit, counterpart, counterattack, antonym, bicycle, recycle, antibacterial, counterproductive |
| 9 | semicircle, semicolon, semifinal, semisweet, semiannual, midfield, midnight, midpoint, midstream, midsummer, midterm, antidote, antonym, semiconductor, midshipman |
| 10 | criticism, heroism, journalism, optimism, patriotism, realism, tourism, activist, columnist, novelist, optimist, semicolon, midnight, professionalism, perfectionist |
| 11 | ability, activity, authority, capacity, creativity, curiosity, electricity, humidity, majority, opportunity, security, criticism, optimist, responsibility, personality |
| 12 | active, attractive, creative, defensive, descriptive, effective, expensive, massive, negative, positive, protective, ability, majority, imaginative, comprehensive |
| 13 | precede, recede, concede, intercede, secede, exceed, proceed, succeed, supersede, procedure, succession, active, positive, unprecedented, proceedings |
| 14 | confident, confidence, different, difference, evident, evidence, intelligent, intelligence, patient, patience, obedient, proceed, succeed, obedience, coincidence |
| 15 | abundant, abundance, brilliant, brilliance, defiant, defiance, elegant, elegance, ignorant, ignorance, tolerant, confident, evidence, tolerance, extravagance |
| 16 | benefit, category, definite, desperate, discipline, eligible, generally, interest, laboratory, mathematics, memorable, brilliant, elegance, miniature, literature |
| 17 | thermal, thermometer, thermos, thermostat, hypothermia, hydrant, hydrate, hydrogen, hydroplane, dehydrate, hydroelectric, definite, discipline, thermodynamics, hydraulics |
| 18 | visible, vision, visual, visit, visor, revise, supervise, television, evidence, video, provide, thermometer, hydrogen, visibility, videographer |
| 19 | audible, audience, audition, auditorium, audio, vocal, vocabulary, advocate, vocation, provoke, invoke, visible, revise, inaudible, provocative |
| 20 | antique, boutique, critique, mystique, physique, technique, unique, catalogue, dialogue, fatigue, league, audience, vocal, picturesque, monologue |
| 21 | accessible, collapsible, convertible, digestible, eligible, indelible, advisable, avoidable, noticeable, manageable, changeable, antique, unique, knowledgeable, irreplaceable |
| 22 | accommodate, aggressive, appreciate, approximate, commission, communicate, correspond, embarrass, millennium, possession, succeed, noticeable, eligible, accommodation, inaccessible |
| 23 | advice, advise, device, devise, license, practice, practise, defense, offense, expense, suspense, embarrass, possession, pretense, dispense |
| 24 | confer, conference, differ, difference, offer, prefer, preference, refer, reference, transfer, fertile, advice, license, conifer, circumference |
| 25 | compose, composition, deposit, dispose, expose, impose, oppose, position, positive, propose, suppose, confer, prefer, composure, juxtapose |
| 26 | physical, physician, physics, physique, psychology, psychiatrist, psyche, psychic, physiology, psychological, physicist, compose, position, metaphysics, psychosomatic |
| 27 | although, thorough, throughout, thoroughly, drought, sought, weight, weigh, neighbor, freight, eighth, physical, physics, heavyweight, thoroughbred |
| 28 | accompany, affect, announce, appoint, arrange, attract, collect, commotion, correct, illegal, immense, although, weight, irresponsible, accompaniment |
| 29 | artificial, beneficial, essential, financial, industrial, official, social, special, actual, annual, visual, announce, collect, influential, intellectual |
| 30 | altar, alter, ascent, assent, councilor, counselor, discreet, discrete, elicit, illicit, palate, essential, official, forth, fourth |
| 31 | memory, memorial, memorize, remember, commemorate, memento, memoir, remembrance, memorandum, reminder, reminisce, altar, ascent, commemoration, memorabilia |
| 32 | molecule, organism, photosynthesis, ecosystem, atmosphere, barometer, chlorophyll, condensation, evaporation, precipitation, respiration, memory, remember, metamorphosis, chromosome |
| 33 | amendment, citizen, congress, constitution, democracy, government, judicial, legislature, representative, republic, senator, molecule, organism, naturalization, bureaucracy |
| 34 | circumference, denominator, equation, equivalent, exponent, integer, numerator, parallel, percentage, perimeter, quotient, congress, citizen, proportional, coefficient |
| 35 | absence, acceptable, accidentally, acquire, calendar, cemetery, changeable, convenient, definitely, independent, noticeable, equation, parallel, perseverance, conscientious |
| 36 | bureaucracy, connoisseur, entrepreneur, hierarchy, liaison, maneuver, pharaoh, questionnaire, reservoir, silhouette, surveillance, definitely, acquire, onomatopoeia, idiosyncrasy |
How the year is built
The weeks are root families, "duct" gives "conduct", "deduct", "educate", "induce", and the suffixes that turn a verb into a noun or an adjective, "-ance", "-ence", "-ous", "-ity". The lists lean towards the words a 6th grader meets in textbooks rather than in stories, since that is where the spelling errors of the grade happen. A handful of weeks are the classic traps, "separate", "necessary", "definitely", handled as a set.
Fifteen words a week, 36 weeks. The weekly worksheet prints one week with a practice column; this page is the year.
Using the list
A 6th grader can run the week alone: read the list, mark the root and the affix in each word, write a sentence for the three least familiar, and self-test on Thursday. The parent's part is the Friday dictation and a look at which words missed twice; those belong in the child's own list at the back of the notebook.
Common questions
- Is spelling still taught in 6th grade?
- Yes, as word study: the standard asks 6th graders to spell correctly in their writing and to use roots and affixes to work out unfamiliar words. The lists serve both.