1st Grade Beginning Blends (bl, cr, st) Worksheets
Consonant blends are two-letter teams where both sounds survive: bl, cr, st, and their many cousins. First graders sort words by their blend family, l-blends, r-blends, and s-blends, training their ears to catch two sounds riding together at the start of a word.
Free printable PDF, aligned to Common Core RF.1.3. One skill per page, answer key on page two.
Every sheet is one of a kind and prints with a version code, so you can reprint the exact same one later. New version every click.
The kind of words you'll sort
Say each word, then write it under its blend family.
dryscoopclassblinkcrowncribspacebravefloatglowskatesweet
Columns: l-blends and r-blends and s-blends. "class" belongs under l-blends; "crown" belongs under r-blends; "space" belongs under s-blends.
Every print draws a fresh mix of word lists at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different sheet.
What's on each sheet
- Sorting. Say each word, then write it under its blend family. 15 words per page.
Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.
How to teach this
Stretch the word slowly and count the sounds on fingers: c-r-a-b has four, and the first two both belong to the blend. If your child says "cab" for crab, the r got swallowed; slow the word down until both letters show. Sort aloud, always.
Watch for: A blend is not a digraph: in a blend you hear both letters (crab), in a digraph the two letters make one new sound (chip). The columns are named for the letter the family shares: bl and fl are l-blends, cr and tr are r-blends, and st and sw are s-blends.
Common questions about beginning blends (bl, cr, st)
- What is the difference between a blend and a digraph?
- In a blend, both letters keep their sounds and you hear them in quick sequence: the c and r in crab. In a digraph, two letters team up to make one brand-new sound: the ch in chip. Kids who can state that difference almost never confuse the spellings.
- Why are the columns called l-blends, r-blends, and s-blends?
- Blend families are named for the letter they share. Bl, cl, fl, gl, and pl all end in l, so they're the l-blends; br, cr, dr and friends are the r-blends; s-blends like st, sn, and sw start with s. Sorting by family reveals the pattern faster than memorizing pairs one at a time.
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Aligned to Common Core RF.1.3. Reviewed by the One More Sheet curriculum team. Content version 68, updated July 2026.