Ash Word Family

Cash, dash and flash, then eyelash and succotash, with wash and leash on a list of their own.

Edit this list or use your own words

The 8 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

List 1: one letter before -ash (cash)

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

  1. 1.bashWaves bash against the rocks all night.
  2. 2.cashThe lemonade stand takes only cash.
  3. 3.dashA dash of pepper finished the stew.
  4. 4.hashWe fried potato hash in an iron skillet.
  5. 5.lashLash the canoe to the roof rack.
  6. 6.mashMash the bananas before you add flour.
  7. 7.rashQuitting the team was a rash decision.
  8. 8.sashThe scout wore badges on a green sash.

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 More sh words: shell, shift, crushAnother short a family, -ack: back, snack

All 57 words

List 1: one letter before -ash (cash) 8

  • bash Waves bash against the rocks all night.
  • cash The lemonade stand takes only cash.
  • dash A dash of pepper finished the stew.
  • hash We fried potato hash in an iron skillet.
  • lash Lash the canoe to the roof rack.
  • mash Mash the bananas before you add flour.
  • rash Quitting the team was a rash decision.
  • sash The scout wore badges on a green sash.

List 2: two or three letters before -ash (flash) 10

  • brash A brash seagull snatched my sandwich crust.
  • clash Orange socks clash with a purple shirt.
  • crash Pots hit the kitchen floor with a crash.
  • flash A flash of lightning lit the barn.
  • gnash Angry trolls gnash their teeth in fairy tales.
  • slash A slash separates the two dates on the ticket.
  • smash Hailstones can smash a greenhouse window.
  • splash Each puddle made a bigger splash.
  • thrash Trout thrash in the shallow net.
  • trash Please carry the trash out to the curb.
Show all 57 words (39 more)

List 3: longer words that end in -ash (eyelash) 12

  • abash Loud teasing can abash a shy singer.
  • backlash The new rule caused a backlash from fans.
  • backslash The file path uses a backslash, not a slash.
  • backsplash Blue tile forms the backsplash behind the sink.
  • balderdash The captain called the rumor pure balderdash.
  • calabash She carved a ladle from a dried calabash.
  • eyelash Blow the eyelash off your fingertip.
  • potash The farmer spread potash across the field.
  • rehash Let us not rehash the same old argument.
  • slapdash His slapdash paint job left drips everywhere.
  • succotash Grandma serves succotash with corn bread.
  • unlash Sailors unlash the lifeboat before the drill.

List 4: -ash with -es added (dashes) 8

  • cashes The bank cashes checks until five.
  • clashes The drummer clashes two brass cymbals.
  • crashes Thunder crashes over the valley tonight.
  • dashes The puppy dashes to the door at noon.
  • flashes The lighthouse flashes twice every minute.
  • mashes The cook mashes turnips with butter.
  • smashes The batter smashes the ball past third base.
  • splashes A seal splashes into the harbor.

List 5: -ash inside a longer word (flashlight) 9

  • ashen The sky turned ashen before the storm.
  • bashful A bashful kitten hid under the porch.
  • dashboard A warning light blinked on the dashboard.
  • fashion The class held a paper fashion show.
  • flashback The movie opens with a flashback to winter.
  • flashlight Shine the flashlight under the couch.
  • flashy The magician wore a flashy gold cape.
  • splashdown The capsule made its splashdown at dawn.
  • splashy Splashy toddlers soaked the whole pool deck.

List 6: ends in -ash, another sound (wash) 10

  • awash The deck was awash after the big wave.
  • backwash Backwash from the oars rocked the dock.
  • hogwash That tale about a purple moose is hogwash.
  • leash The beagle tugged hard on its leash.
  • mouthwash A bottle of mouthwash sits by the sink.
  • quash The mayor tried to quash the silly rumor.
  • squash We roasted squash with a little maple syrup.
  • unleash Unleash the hounds once the gate is shut.
  • wash Wash your paintbrush before the color dries.
  • whitewash They brushed whitewash onto the old fence.

How this list was compiled: Words chosen and sorted into 6 lists for Homeroom Tools. The choice, the sorting and the sentences are ours; no published list, program or workbook was opened or copied. SOUND AND SPELLING: every word was looked up on 14 October 2026 in the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q= plus the word) for the sound of its ending and for a second spelling on the headword line, and each has an English entry in Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/, CC BY-SA 4.0). The dictionary writes the ending of all 30 words on Lists 1 to 3 as ăsh, with short a; in the longer words of List 3 it carries a stress mark, the main one in abash, unlash and the verb rehash. List 4 is spelled from the same dictionary's verb lines (dashed, dashing, dashes), where the ending -es makes a second syllable; its line for dart ends in darts. On List 5 the same ăsh is the first, stressed syllable (ashen, flashlight). On List 6 the letters ash end words with other vowels: the dictionary writes wash (wŏsh, wôsh), and squash, awash and the four -wash compounds with the same two vowels, quash (kwŏsh), and leash and unleash with long e. The meaning of ash, the silent g of gnash (năsh), the meaning of cache, the word histories of succotash and squash (both from Narragansett) and the pronunciations of mustache, goulash and mishmash are from the same dictionary's entries. A WORD FAMILY here is a set of words that share a rime, which Wikipedia's Phonics article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonics) gives as the vowel and the consonant sounds that follow it. SOUND-ALIKES: cash (cache): the dictionary gives both words one pronunciation, and Wiktionary lists cache as a homophone of cash. LEFT OUT: goulash (said first with the a of father), mishmash (also said that way), and a few words by our choice for a list young children use. SENTENCES are ours, name no person, and none repeats a sentence in another list of this site (checked on 14 October 2026). Spellings are American. Licence: own work

How it works

Ash, the powder a fire leaves, lends its three letters to thirty words on the first three lists, from cash, dash and flash to eyelash and succotash. All keep its sound: the short a of cat, then sh.

Read the full guide

Ash word family words in six lists

List 1 puts one letter before -ash: bash, cash, dash, hash, lash, mash, rash, sash. Brash, clash, crash, flash, slash, smash, trash, thrash, splash and gnash, on List 2, have more letters before the ending. List 3 is longer: eyelash, backsplash, balderdash. List 5 has -ash in the first syllable: flashlight, dashboard, bashful. List 6 is wash, squash and leash.

Dashes and crashes: -es after sh

List 4 adds an ending. The American Heritage Dictionary's verb lines spell dashes, flashes, crashes and splashes with -es, which makes one more syllable. Its line for dart ends in a plain s: darts.

  • Cash and cache sound the same. A cache is a store of goods kept in a hidden place.
  • Gnash starts with a silent g: the dictionary writes it (năsh).
  • Succotash comes from Narragansett msíckquatash, boiled whole-kernel corn. Squash, the vegetable, is a Narragansett word too.

Questions and answers

Do wash and squash rhyme with cash?

No. The American Heritage Dictionary writes wash (wŏsh, wôsh), with the o of pot or the aw of paw, and squash the same two ways. Quash is (kwŏsh). They stand on List 6 with five more -wash words and with leash, which has long e.

Does mustache rhyme with cash?

In sound, yes: the dictionary writes its last syllable (tăsh). The spelling ends in -ache, and the dictionary also allows moustache, so the word is on none of these lists.

Does goulash rhyme with cash?

Only in the dictionary's second pronunciation. The first is (go͞o-läsh), with the a of father; (-lăsh) follows. Mishmash runs the other way, (mĭsh-măsh) first and (-mäsh) second. Neither is on the lists.

Can I print ash word family worksheets?

Yes. Start with List 1 (bash to sash) or List 2 (brash to gnash). Whichever list is open prints as a Word list, a Test sheet, an ABC order sheet or a Missing letters sheet.

More tools

Show 8 more

Browse Flashcards