• 50 words
  • Checked October 2026

Spelling Bee Words 1st Grade

Press Start round and the device reads ten short words, one sentence each, for a first grade bee.

Edit this list or use your own words

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.

Sheet to show and print

Warm-up: two consonants (flap)

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

  1. 1.flapBirds flap their wings to fly.
  2. 2.glumHe felt glum when the rain came.
  3. 3.skimFlat stones skim across the lake.
  4. 4.flockA flock of sheep grazed on the hill.
  5. 5.glandA gland in the skin makes sweat.
  6. 6.clumpA clump of grass grew by the gate.
  7. 7.clingWet socks cling to my feet.
  8. 8.flingThe dogs fling mud when they run.
  9. 9.friskLambs frisk in the grass in spring.
  10. 10.claspThe clasp on the old trunk was stuck.

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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
Tick the lists to draw 10 words from

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

Next step Pick the next speller at randomRun a bee with your own word list

All 50 words

Warm-up: two consonants (flap) 10

  • clasp The clasp on the old trunk was stuck.
  • cling Wet socks cling to my feet.
  • clump A clump of grass grew by the gate.
  • flap Birds flap their wings to fly.
  • fling The dogs fling mud when they run.
  • flock A flock of sheep grazed on the hill.
  • frisk Lambs frisk in the grass in spring.
  • gland A gland in the skin makes sweat.
  • glum He felt glum when the rain came.
  • skim Flat stones skim across the lake.

Round 2: sh, ch and th (bash) 10

  • bash Waves bash the rocks in a storm.
  • belch The old truck let out a belch of smoke.
  • filth We washed the filth off the van.
  • flesh A peach has soft, sweet flesh.
  • lash A lash fell from my eyelid.
  • shrill The whistle made a shrill sound.
  • shun Cats shun the water in the tub.
  • slash Put a slash between the month and the day.
  • thrift Thrift means not wasting what you have.
  • winch A winch pulled the boat up the ramp.
Show all 50 words (30 more)

Round 3: silent e (wire) 10

  • chore Folding socks is my chore tonight.
  • clone A clone is a copy of a living thing.
  • jade Her ring has a pale green jade stone.
  • mime A mime acts with no words.
  • prone He lay prone, face down, on the mat.
  • slate The roof is made of gray slate.
  • strive We strive to do our best.
  • swine Swine is another word for pigs.
  • vase The vase on the shelf holds daisies.
  • wire The fence is made of wire.

Round 4: ee and oo (beep) 10

  • beep The truck went beep as it backed up.
  • booth We sat in a booth to eat lunch.
  • gloom A lamp lit up the gloom.
  • greed Greed made the king want more gold.
  • scoot Scoot over so I can sit.
  • sleet Icy sleet tapped on the window.
  • swoop Owls swoop down to catch mice.
  • tweed A tweed cap kept his ears warm.
  • weep Sad songs make some people weep.
  • zoom Jets zoom across the sky.

Final round: two syllables (unzip) 10

  • bandit The raccoon looks like a little bandit.
  • catfish We caught a catfish in the muddy river.
  • dustpan The broom and dustpan hang by the door.
  • handstand She can do a handstand on the grass.
  • nutmeg Nutmeg is a spice for pies.
  • pigpen The pigs rolled in the muddy pigpen.
  • unpack We unpack our bags after a trip.
  • unzip Unzip the bag and take out your lunch.
  • uphill We pushed the sled back uphill.
  • vanish The stars vanish when the sun comes up.

How this list was compiled: Words chosen for a first grade classroom bee, sorted into 5 rounds of 10 and given sentences. No contest's, publisher's or study booklet's list was opened or copied, and no word here is on another spelling or phonics list of this site, the kindergarten to grade 2 lists and the other bees included. ONE RIGHT ANSWER: every word was looked up on 2 October 2026 in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (ahdictionary.com), where each has one spelling, and in Wiktionary (en.wiktionary.org, CC BY-SA 4.0), where none has a sound-alike that is a common word; slate, chore and clone have only an obsolete or dialect second form there. Left out because a sound-alike is listed (droop and drupe, brood and brewed, mode and mowed, haze and hays, jive and gyve, stash and stache) or because the dictionary gives a second spelling (fuse, also fuze). THE GRADE is our suggestion and no standard's. Sentences are ours and name no person. Licence: own work

How it works

Fifty short words in 5 rounds of 10, each built on a grade 1 pattern: two consonants together, sh, ch and th, silent e, ee and oo, then two-syllable words. The grade is our suggestion, and no word is on our grade 1 lists.

Read the full guide

What each round tests

The warm-up puts two consonants side by side (flap, clump, clasp). Round 2 has sh, ch and th (bash, winch, filth), Round 3 a silent e at the end (wire, slate, strive), and Round 4 ee or oo (beep, tweed, gloom). The final round joins two short syllables: unzip, pigpen, bandit.

For spellers who do not type yet

Choose Word list and press Print: one page holds a round's 10 words with a sentence each, for a grown-up to read aloud while spellers answer out loud. On a screen, Start round says the word, the sentence and the word again.

  • Every word in Rounds 1 to 4 has one syllable; the final round has two.
  • Handstand is the longest word here, at nine letters.

Questions and answers

What are spelling bee competition words for grade 1?

Each competition sets its own list, so ask the organizer for it. These 50 are our own practice words on grade 1 patterns, such as flock, shrill, clone and catfish; no contest's list was opened or copied. Edit this list swaps in the organizer's words.

Are these harder than 1st grade spelling words?

A little. They follow the patterns of our grade 1 lists but are less common words, such as glum, frisk, thrift and swine. None of the 50 is on those lists or on the kindergarten list.

Why are ship, cake and moon missing?

Those are on our weekly grade lists already, and a bee page here repeats no word. Words with a sound-alike, such as haze and hays, are left out too, so one spelling is always right.

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