What is augh doing in caught?

Augh is an old spelling of the same sound with a silent gh: caught, taught, daughter. Treating augh as one chunk makes these famous spelling demons manageable.

Which words matter most here?

The writing-vocabulary ones: saw, draw, walk, talk, small, caught, and taught. They appear weekly in real assignments, which is why this page exists.

3rd grade variant vowel /ô/ (aw, au, al)

3rd grade variant vowel /ô/ (aw, au, al) worksheets

Third graders add the augh words (caught, taught, daughter) to the au family and handle the whole sound across reading and spelling without slowing down.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core RF.3.3.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of words you'll complete and sort

Fill in the missing letters to make a real word, then write the whole word in its column.

lndrybd (no hair on top)tldrnyntumnchklnchhk

Columns: aw and au / augh and al. Only aw turns "dr_n" into a real word, so drawn goes under aw; Only au turns "l_ndry" into a real word, so laundry goes under au / augh; the clue (no hair on top) picks al for "b_d", so bald goes under al.

Every print pulls a new set of words at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 3rd grade sheet

3rd grade sheets draw from 36 words, 21 to a page. 1st to 3rd grade print from the same 36 words. What changes is the standard (RF.3.3 here) and the teaching notes below.

Some of the words:

pawcrawldawnautumndaughterwalkhaltwallballfall

Complete and sort. Fill in the missing letters to make a real word, then write the whole word in its column. 21 words per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Give the augh words their minute of fame: caught and taught are among the most misspelled words in third grade writing. Practice them as a chant: c-augh-t. The chunk beats the letters.

Watch for: Position leans the choice: aw likes word endings and stands before n and l (dawn, crawl); au sits inside words (sauce, autumn); with al, the l is spoken in salt and ball but silent in walk and talk, and the vowel sounds the same either way. The augh in caught and taught is the au family wearing extra letters. Sort those with au and read the gh as silent.

Common questions about 3rd grade variant vowel /ô/ (aw, au, al)

What is augh doing in caught?: Augh is an old spelling of the same sound with a silent gh: caught, taught, daughter. Treating augh as one chunk makes these famous spelling demons manageable.
Which words matter most here?: The writing-vocabulary ones: saw, draw, walk, talk, small, caught, and taught. They appear weekly in real assignments, which is why this page exists.

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Aligned to Common Core RF.3.3. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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