• 120 words
  • Checked October 2026

Animal Spelling Words

Cat and cow to chimpanzee: pick a group of animals, press Start test and type each name you hear.

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

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List 1: pets

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

  1. 1.catOur cat chases a ball of yarn.
  2. 2.dogMy dog waits by the door at three.
  3. 3.puppyThe puppy barked at its own reflection.
  4. 4.kittenThe kitten batted a cork across the floor.
  5. 5.rabbitA rabbit nibbled lettuce in its hutch.
  6. 6.hamsterThe hamster stuffed seeds into its cheeks.
  7. 7.tabbyA striped tabby slept on the windowsill.
  8. 8.houndThe hound followed a trail of scent.
  9. 9.muttOur mutt has one floppy ear.
  10. 10.goldfishMy goldfish swims to the top for food.

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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.

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All 120 words

List 1: pets 10

  • cat Our cat chases a ball of yarn.
  • dog My dog waits by the door at three.
  • goldfish My goldfish swims to the top for food.
  • hamster The hamster stuffed seeds into its cheeks.
  • hound The hound followed a trail of scent.
  • kitten The kitten batted a cork across the floor.
  • mutt Our mutt has one floppy ear.
  • puppy The puppy barked at its own reflection.
  • rabbit A rabbit nibbled lettuce in its hutch.
  • tabby A striped tabby slept on the windowsill.

List 2: pets, dog breeds 10

  • beagle The beagle sniffed along the fence.
  • bulldog The bulldog snored on the couch.
  • collie A collie ran beside the bicycle.
  • greyhound The greyhound raced across the field.
  • mastiff The mastiff was taller than the table.
  • poodle The poodle had curly white fur.
  • retriever The retriever brought the stick back.
  • spaniel The spaniel splashed into the pond.
  • terrier The little terrier barked at the mail truck.
  • whippet A whippet curled up on the blanket.

List 3: farm animals 10

  • bull The bull stood alone in the field.
  • cow The cow chewed grass by the gate.
  • duck A duck waddled toward the barn door.
  • ewe The ewe was sheared in early spring.
  • goat The goat climbed onto the hay bale.
  • hen A speckled hen pecked at the corn.
  • horse The horse trotted along the dirt road.
  • lamb The lamb wobbled on its thin legs.
  • pig The pig sniffed at the feeding trough.
  • sheep A dog guided the sheep into the pen.

List 4: farm animals, longer words 10

  • alpaca The alpaca had soft, thick wool.
  • cattle The cattle grazed on the hillside.
  • chicken A chicken scratched in the dirt for seeds.
  • donkey The donkey carried two baskets of apples.
  • gander The gander hissed at the dog.
  • llama The llama carried packs up the trail.
  • oxen Two oxen plowed the muddy field.
  • piglet The smallest piglet squealed the loudest.
  • rooster The rooster crowed before the sun rose.
  • stallion The black stallion galloped along the fence.

List 5: zoo animals 10

  • baboon A baboon sat on the highest rock.
  • bear The bear scratched its back on a tree.
  • cougar The ranger saw cougar tracks in the snow.
  • gibbon The gibbon swung from bar to bar.
  • lion The lion yawned and showed its teeth.
  • monkey A monkey swung from a rope at the zoo.
  • moose A moose waded into the lake.
  • puma The puma rested on a rock ledge.
  • tiger The tiger paced beside the pool.
  • zebra A zebra grazed beside the giraffe pen.

List 6: zoo animals, longer names 10

  • aardvark The aardvark dug a burrow at night.
  • antelope An antelope leaped over the bushes.
  • chimpanzee The chimpanzee used a stick as a tool.
  • elephant The elephant flapped its ears in the heat.
  • giraffe The giraffe reached the top leaves.
  • kangaroo A kangaroo hopped across the dry grass.
  • mongoose A mongoose darted across the path.
  • platypus The platypus has a bill like a duck.
  • wallaby The wallaby hopped behind its mother.
  • wildebeest A wildebeest drank at the water hole.

List 7: ocean animals 10

  • conch She found a conch on the sand.
  • coral The diver took photos of the coral.
  • crab A crab scuttled into a gap between stones.
  • eel An eel slid between the rocks.
  • fish A silver fish darted under the dock.
  • krill Some whales eat tiny krill.
  • mussel A mussel clung to the pier post.
  • seal The seal slid off the wet rock.
  • shark A shark fin cut through the water.
  • whale The whale lifted its tail and dove.

List 8: ocean animals, longer names 10

  • barnacle A barnacle stuck to the boat's hull.
  • barracuda The barracuda has sharp, pointed teeth.
  • beluga The beluga is a small white whale.
  • cuttlefish We watched a cuttlefish at the aquarium.
  • dolphin A dolphin leaped beside the boat.
  • mackerel A school of mackerel flashed silver.
  • manatee The manatee munched on sea grass.
  • nautilus A nautilus shell sat on the shelf.
  • octopus The octopus hid inside an empty shell.
  • starfish We found a starfish in the tide pool.

List 9: birds 10

  • eagle An eagle circled high above the river.
  • egret A white egret waded in the marsh.
  • heron A heron stood still in the shallows.
  • lark A lark sang above the meadow.
  • loon We heard a loon call across the lake.
  • owl An owl hooted from the barn roof.
  • raven A raven croaked from the pine tree.
  • robin A robin sang from the top of the maple.
  • stork A stork flew low over the marsh.
  • thrush The thrush sang at dusk.

List 10: birds, longer names 10

  • albatross The albatross glided over the waves.
  • cardinal A red cardinal sat in the snow.
  • chickadee A chickadee took one seed and flew off.
  • cuckoo We heard a cuckoo in the woods.
  • hummingbird The hummingbird drank from a red flower.
  • mockingbird A mockingbird copied the car alarm.
  • nightingale The nightingale sang after dark.
  • parrot The parrot repeated every word we said.
  • penguin The penguin slid across the ice on its belly.
  • woodpecker The woodpecker tapped on the oak tree.

List 11: insects 10

  • ant One ant dragged a leaf across the path.
  • bee The bee crawled inside a yellow blossom.
  • cicada The cicada buzzed loudly in the tree.
  • flea The vet found one flea on the dog.
  • fly A fly landed on my sandwich.
  • hornet A hornet buzzed near the trash can.
  • mantis The mantis sat still on a leaf.
  • moth A moth circled the porch light.
  • termite The termite chewed through soft wood.
  • weevil The weevil has a long snout.

List 12: insects, longer names 10

  • bumblebee A fuzzy bumblebee bumped against the screen door.
  • butterfly A butterfly rested on my sleeve.
  • caterpillar The caterpillar chewed a hole in the leaf.
  • firefly A firefly blinked above the tall grass.
  • grasshopper A grasshopper clung to the wheat stalk.
  • housefly A housefly buzzed against the window.
  • inchworm An inchworm looped along the twig.
  • katydid The katydid looked like a green leaf.
  • mosquito A mosquito whined near my ear.
  • silkworm The silkworm spun a white cocoon.

How it works

These 120 animal names come in six groups of two lists: pets, farm, zoo and ocean animals, birds and insects. The first list of each group has short names (cat, cow, owl), the second longer ones (retriever, wildebeest, hummingbird).

Read the full guide

Farm animals spelling words, and five more groups

Lists 3 and 4 are the farm: cow, pig, hen, sheep and horse, then donkey, rooster, cattle and oxen, the plural of ox. Lists 1 and 2 are pets, ten of them dog breeds from beagle to whippet. Lists 5 and 6 are zoo animals, 7 and 8 the ocean, 9 and 10 birds, and 11 and 12 insects, ending with silkworm and inchworm, which are caterpillars.

Ten names with a sound-alike

Ewe and you, bear and bare, horse and hoarse, whale and wail, bee and be, mussel and muscle, flea and flee: the sentence that is read tells which one is meant, and the results flag the other.

  • Five names end in a double e: bee, bumblebee, chimpanzee, manatee and chickadee.
  • Aardvark opens with a double a; cuckoo and kangaroo close with a double o.

Questions and answers

Is it mussel or muscle?

The shellfish is a mussel, the word in List 7; a muscle moves your arm. They sound the same, so the results flag muscle and show the sentence about the pier post.

Why are hyena, seahorse and husky missing?

The dictionary gives each a second spelling (hyaena, sea horse, huskie), and the test takes only one. Cockatiel, scallop, warthog, sheepdog and horsefly are out for the same reason.

Which animal names are hardest to spell?

List 6 has chimpanzee, aardvark, platypus and wildebeest. The longest names have eleven letters: nightingale, hummingbird and mockingbird in List 10, grasshopper and caterpillar in List 12.

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