• 57 words

Spelling Bee for 5th Graders: Words From Science to Music

Six bee rounds from fifth grade subjects, read aloud word, sentence, word, then marked.

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: science words (orbit)

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

  1. 1.invertebrateA worm is an invertebrate with no backbone.
  2. 2.omnivoreAn omnivore eats both plants and meat.
  3. 3.magnetismMagnets pull on iron by magnetism.
  4. 4.orbitThe moon takes about a month to orbit Earth.
  5. 5.digestionChewing well helps digestion.
  6. 6.fungusA mushroom is a kind of fungus.
  7. 7.microbeYou need a microscope to see a microbe.
  8. 8.mineralQuartz is a common mineral.
  9. 9.sedimentSand and mud settle as sediment.
  10. 10.magmaMelted rock underground is called magma.

Made at homeroomtools.com

Make a word search

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

More options
Reading speed

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 Easier rounds: the grade 3 beePick the next speller at random

All 57 words

Warm-up: science words (orbit) 10

  • digestion Chewing well helps digestion.
  • fungus A mushroom is a kind of fungus.
  • invertebrate A worm is an invertebrate with no backbone.
  • magma Melted rock underground is called magma.
  • magnetism Magnets pull on iron by magnetism.
  • microbe You need a microscope to see a microbe.
  • mineral Quartz is a common mineral.
  • omnivore An omnivore eats both plants and meat.
  • orbit The moon takes about a month to orbit Earth.
  • sediment Sand and mud settle as sediment.

Round 2: land and water (delta) 10

  • archipelago An archipelago is a large group of islands.
  • atlas Find the country in the atlas.
  • canal Boats carry goods along the canal.
  • compass The compass needle points north.
  • delta A river can build a delta at the sea.
  • equator The equator circles the middle of Earth.
  • estuary Salt water and fresh water mix in an estuary.
  • gulf The storm crossed the warm gulf.
  • lava Hot lava poured down the volcano.
  • tributary A small tributary flows into the big river.
Show all 57 words (37 more)

Round 3: math words (vertex) 10

  • acute An acute angle is smaller than a right angle.
  • diagonal Draw a diagonal from corner to corner.
  • dividend In twelve divided by three, twelve is the dividend.
  • obtuse An obtuse angle is wider than a right angle.
  • octagon A stop sign is shaped like an octagon.
  • pentagon A pentagon has five sides.
  • percentage Fifty percent is the same percentage as one half.
  • remainder Seven divided by two leaves a remainder of one.
  • vertex A cube has a vertex at each corner.
  • volume Find the volume of the box in cubic inches.

Round 4: citizens and government (ballot) 10

  • ballot Each voter fills in a ballot.
  • citizen Every citizen can help keep the park clean.
  • colony The settlers built a colony by the river.
  • election The class held an election for captain.
  • governor The governor leads the state.
  • justice The judge wanted justice for both sides.
  • liberty The bell became a symbol of liberty.
  • republic In a republic, people elect their leaders.
  • revolution The colonists fought a war called a revolution.
  • treaty The two countries signed a peace treaty.

Round 5: music words (melody) 10

  • accordion He squeezed the accordion to make music.
  • banjo A banjo has a round body and strings.
  • cello A cello is bigger than a violin.
  • conductor The conductor waved a baton.
  • drummer The drummer kept a steady beat.
  • encore The crowd shouted for an encore.
  • harmony The choir sang in perfect harmony.
  • melody Hum the melody of your favorite song.
  • tempo The song has a fast tempo.
  • violin She plays the violin in the orchestra.

Final round: letters that fool you (beige) 7

  • allowance I save half my allowance each week.
  • beige The walls are painted beige.
  • fragrance Roses have a sweet fragrance.
  • ghastly The ghost story had a ghastly ending.
  • grieve It is normal to grieve when a pet dies.
  • gymnastics She practices gymnastics after school.
  • physical Soccer is a physical sport.

How this list was compiled: Words chosen for a fifth grade classroom bee from the subjects a fifth grader studies (science, land and water, math, government, music), sorted into 6 rounds and given sentences. No contest's, publisher's or study booklet's list was opened or copied. No word here is on another spelling or phonics list of this site, the grade 4 to 6 lists and the grade 2 and 3 bees included (checked on 2026-09-24). ONE RIGHT ANSWER: the headword line of every word was read on 2026-09-24 at https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q= plus the word (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language), and the English entry's homophones line and Alternative forms section at https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ plus the word. Left out because a sound-alike is listed (meteor and meatier, divisor and diviser, sieve and civ, mayor and mare) or because the word is not in the macOS word list (coastline). Lava, harmony and gulf have a sound-alike only in some accents (larva, hominy, golf), and atlas only as a name, so no word carries one. Facts in sentences were read in the same dictionary's definitions on 2026-09-24: archipelago (a large group of islands), tributary (a stream that flows into a larger one), estuary (where a river's current meets the tides), dividend (the quantity to be divided), octagon (eight sides). SPELLINGS: every word is in the macOS word list. THE GRADE is our suggestion and no standard's. SENTENCES are ours, name no person, and none repeats a sentence in another dataset of this site (checked 2026-09-24). Licence: own work

How it works

Every word here comes from a fifth grade subject: science, land and water, math, government and music, then a final round of letters that fool you. 57 words in 6 rounds; grade 5 is our suggestion.

Read the full guide

What each round tests

The warm-up is science (invertebrate, sediment), Round 2 land and water (archipelago, estuary), Round 3 math (vertex, dividend), Round 4 government (ballot, republic) and Round 5 music (accordion, encore). The final round hides its sounds: beige ends in zh, ghastly has a silent h.

Running the rounds

Start round speaks each word, a sentence, then the word again, and marks every answer once the round ends. Word list and Print give the reader one page per round, sentences included. Edit this list if your class studied other words.

  • Pentagon and octagon end in gon, from the Greek word for corner or angle.
  • Invertebrate is vertebrate with in- in front: spell the base word, then add the prefix.

Questions and answers

What are difficult spelling words for 5th graders?

Long subject words whose letters hide a sound or a syllable: archipelago, tributary, invertebrate, accordion. The final round adds beige, fragrance and ghastly. None of the 57 is on our grade 4, 5 or 6 lists.

Why use school subject words for a bee?

Fifth graders meet these words in class, so a bee round doubles as review, and the sentence read with each word shows it in use. The grade is our suggestion, and Edit this list changes any word.

How many spellers can one bee serve?

57 words give a class of 28 two turns each, with one word to spare. Print each round as a Word list for the reader and let a random name picker set the order.

More tools

Show 8 more

Browse Flashcards