• 120 words

11th Grade Spelling Words That Are Not Spelled the Way They Sound

Spelling words for grade 11, sorted by trap: choose a list, press Start test and type what you hear.

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The 10 words of this list. Add or change any. For your own list, press Clear first.

For a sentence, put it after a colon: rain: The rain fell all day. Up to 40 words.

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List 1: Said one way, spelled another

Words to learn. Read each word, cover it, write it, then check it.

  1. 1.colonelThe colonel inspected the troops at dawn.
  2. 2.sergeantThe sergeant called the roll each morning.
  3. 3.indictA grand jury can indict a suspect.
  4. 4.subpoenaThe court sent a subpoena to the witness.
  5. 5.segueThe host made a smooth segue to sports.
  6. 6.yachtA white yacht was anchored in the bay.
  7. 7.quayThe ferry tied up at the stone quay.
  8. 8.victualsThe cook packed victuals for the long trail.
  9. 9.isthmusAn isthmus joins two larger pieces of land.
  10. 10.awryOur picnic plans went awry in the rain.

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Each word is read aloud, then used in a sentence. Type what you hear. The marks come at the end.

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Accents do not count: café may be typed as cafe, and the marks show how it is written.

Only voices built into this device are used, so the words are not sent to a speech service to be read. With no voice, a person reads the words from the last page of the test sheet.

Review test from several lists
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The words are mixed from the lists you tick, so a review test needs a read-aloud voice.

Next step Test your own words the same wayTry the 12th grade lists next

All 120 words

List 1: Said one way, spelled another 10

  • awry Our picnic plans went awry in the rain.
  • colonel The colonel inspected the troops at dawn.
  • indict A grand jury can indict a suspect.
  • isthmus An isthmus joins two larger pieces of land.
  • quay The ferry tied up at the stone quay.
  • segue The host made a smooth segue to sports.
  • sergeant The sergeant called the roll each morning.
  • subpoena The court sent a subpoena to the witness.
  • victuals The cook packed victuals for the long trail.
  • yacht A white yacht was anchored in the bay.

List 2: Still spelled the French way 10

  • bourgeois The novel mocks bourgeois manners.
  • camaraderie The team built real camaraderie on the road.
  • chassis The mechanic checked the chassis for rust.
  • clientele The cafe has a loyal clientele.
  • macabre The story has a macabre ending.
  • milieu The artist thrived in the city's creative milieu.
  • nonchalant She gave a nonchalant shrug and walked on.
  • potpourri A bowl of potpourri scented the hallway.
  • rendezvous We set a rendezvous at the old clock tower.
  • ricochet We heard the puck ricochet off the post.

List 3: Greek rh and rrh 10

  • catarrh A heavy cold left him with catarrh.
  • cirrhosis The liver disease cirrhosis causes scarring.
  • hemorrhage Doctors worked fast to stop the hemorrhage.
  • myrrh The gift of myrrh came in a small jar.
  • rhapsody The orchestra played a rhapsody for piano.
  • rheumatism Damp weather made her rheumatism worse.
  • rhinoceros The rhinoceros has a horn on its nose.
  • rhizome Ginger grows from a rhizome underground.
  • rhododendron A pink rhododendron bloomed by the gate.
  • rhombus A rhombus has four equal sides.

List 4: A silent first letter 10

  • heirloom The quilt is a family heirloom.
  • mnemonic A mnemonic helps you remember a list.
  • pneumatic A pneumatic drill runs on compressed air.
  • pneumonia She was in the hospital with pneumonia.
  • psalm She read a psalm aloud at the service.
  • pseudonym The author wrote under a pseudonym.
  • psoriasis The cream soothed his psoriasis.
  • psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a medical doctor.
  • ptarmigan A ptarmigan turns white in winter.
  • pterodactyl The museum has a pterodactyl fossil.

List 5: Which letter doubles 10

  • battalion The battalion marched through the valley.
  • colossal A colossal statue stood at the harbor.
  • desiccate Hot winds desiccate the soil.
  • dilemma She faced a dilemma over which job to take.
  • inoculate Nurses inoculate children against measles.
  • iridescent The soap bubble had an iridescent sheen.
  • paraffin Candles are often made of paraffin wax.
  • penicillin The doctor prescribed penicillin for the infection.
  • scintillate Stars scintillate on a cold, clear night.
  • vacillate Voters vacillate between the two candidates.

List 6: gious or geous 10

  • advantageous A window seat is advantageous on long flights.
  • contagious Yawning seems to be contagious.
  • egregious The report contained an egregious error.
  • gorgeous The sunset over the bay was gorgeous.
  • litigious The litigious neighbor sued over a fence.
  • outrageous The price of the tickets was outrageous.
  • prestigious She won a prestigious science award.
  • prodigious The young pianist has a prodigious memory.
  • religious The museum displays religious art.
  • sacrilegious Some fans find ketchup on steak sacrilegious.

List 7: cious, tious and other ious endings 10

  • abstemious An abstemious eater skips dessert.
  • auspicious Sunshine made an auspicious start to the trip.
  • capricious Spring weather is capricious.
  • facetious I was being facetious, not serious.
  • obsequious The obsequious waiter hovered by the table.
  • ostentatious The gold gates looked ostentatious.
  • pernicious Rumors can have a pernicious effect.
  • precarious The ladder stood at a precarious angle.
  • supercilious The clerk gave a supercilious smile.
  • surreptitious He took a surreptitious glance at the clock.

List 8: Medical words 10

  • arthritis My grandmother has arthritis in her hands.
  • diabetes People with diabetes track their blood sugar.
  • diphtheria A vaccine protects children against diphtheria.
  • eczema The lotion helps with eczema.
  • jaundice A newborn with jaundice may look yellow.
  • migraine Bright light can trigger a migraine.
  • ophthalmologist An ophthalmologist examined her eyes.
  • schizophrenia The clinic treats patients with schizophrenia.
  • tonsillitis He missed a week of school with tonsillitis.
  • tourniquet The medic tied a tourniquet above the wound.

List 9: A silent g 10

  • arraign The court will arraign the suspect on Friday.
  • benign The test showed the lump was benign.
  • campaign The campaign for class president starts Monday.
  • cologne He wore too much cologne.
  • diaphragm The diaphragm is a muscle below the lungs.
  • feign She tried to feign surprise at the party.
  • malign It is unfair to malign a rival.
  • paradigm The discovery caused a paradigm shift.
  • phlegm A cold can fill your throat with phlegm.
  • poignant The film ends on a poignant note.

List 10: A silent letter in the middle or at the end 10

  • asthma He carries an inhaler for his asthma.
  • condemn Inspectors may condemn an unsafe building.
  • hymn The crowd sang a hymn before the speech.
  • mortgage They paid off the mortgage in twenty years.
  • raspberry He spread raspberry jam on toast.
  • salmon We grilled salmon for dinner.
  • solemn The judge spoke in a solemn voice.
  • subtle There is a subtle hint of lemon.
  • undoubtedly This is undoubtedly her best painting.
  • viscount A viscount ranks below an earl.

List 11: Borrowed from Spanish 10

  • chipotle The sauce gets its smoky heat from chipotle.
  • conquistador The helmet once belonged to a Spanish conquistador.
  • guacamole We mashed ripe avocados into guacamole.
  • hacienda The old hacienda had a red tile roof.
  • incommunicado The hikers were incommunicado for three days.
  • mesquite The ribs were smoked over mesquite wood.
  • peccadillo Forgetting to call was a minor peccadillo.
  • quesadilla She ordered a cheese quesadilla for lunch.
  • tortilla He warmed a corn tortilla on the griddle.
  • vigilante The sheriff warned against vigilante justice.

List 12: Borrowed from German 10

  • dachshund A dachshund has short legs and a long body.
  • edelweiss The white edelweiss grows high in the Alps.
  • glockenspiel She plays the glockenspiel in the marching band.
  • poltergeist The movie is about a noisy poltergeist.
  • pumpernickel She ordered turkey on pumpernickel bread.
  • sauerkraut He piled sauerkraut on the hot dog.
  • schadenfreude He felt schadenfreude when his rival tripped.
  • schnitzel The chef fried the schnitzel until golden.
  • wanderlust A map on the wall fed her wanderlust.
  • zeitgeist The song captured the zeitgeist of the decade.

How it works

Colonel has an r sound and no r. These 11th grade spelling words come in 12 lists of 10, sorted by what goes wrong: a hidden sound, a silent letter, a misplaced double, a French, Spanish or German spelling.

Read the full guide

How the 12 lists are sorted

List 1 is words said one way and spelled another (sergeant, victuals). Lists 2, 11 and 12 keep the spelling of French (rendezvous), Spanish (quesadilla) and German (dachshund). List 3 is Greek rh and rrh. Lists 4, 9 and 10 are silent letters: the first (pseudonym), a g (phlegm), the middle or the end (mortgage). List 5 asks which letter doubles, Lists 6 and 7 are ious endings, and List 8 is medical.

Why colonel has an r sound and indict a silent c

English took colonel from French in the 1540s as coronel. In the 1580s writers respelled it to match Italian colonnello, and by about 1650 only the r pronunciation was left. Indict came through Old French as endite, and its c was added later to look like Latin.

  • Sacrilegious is sacrilege plus ious, so e comes before i. It is not built on religious, also on List 6.
  • Two words on List 11 grew a letter on the way into English: Spanish writes incomunicado and pecadillo.
  • In German spellings ei says eye and ie says ee: zeitgeist and edelweiss, but glockenspiel.

Questions and answers

Which words here sound like another word?

Five: colonel and kernel, quay and key, hymn and him, indict and indite (to write), feign with fain and fane. Each pair sounds alike in most voices, so the sentence decides. Mnemonic and pneumonic (of the lungs) only come close.

Can a person read the words instead of the device?

Yes. Choose Test sheet above the sheet and press Print: its last page has the words and sentences for the reader. For a typed test, open Voice, speed and marking and set Who reads the words to A person reads the words aloud.

Why does ptarmigan start with a silent p?

The p was never sounded. The bird's name is Scottish Gaelic tarmachan, and writers added the p in the belief that the word was Greek. Pterodactyl, beside it on List 4, has the real Greek pt, from pteron, wing.

Are these spellings American or British?

American, and one word changes: British spelling writes haemorrhage for List 3's hemorrhage. Open Edit this list and retype that line. The test then marks against your spelling. The grade is only our suggestion, so lists can move up or down a year.

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