OI OY Word Search

A phonics puzzle of oi and oy words with its answer key, from Coin and Boil to Toy and Royal.

Name Date

OI and OY Word Search

Find every word hidden in the grid. Words go across and down.

0 of 16 words found

TYNCTAKYIAARVNX

UBOEOGMFFOKHEEK

COINYVISJGEDIUS

ZISONOOFIEIPMEA

NLEHZIESRBLALXE

GTTKOCNWHYDSQIM

YORANEJRWSEOLYO

UDEJGAOXCALINOW

EHNAIAYROYALOKD

RZGTDNPIWIHORIE

CWXYRNOEBTAFDQS

QESRPOISONMOIST

XNGPBYNIYOYSTER

EDLAHETIOQOIMSO

DCHOICEAOOERUBY

This grid is wider and taller than its box. Slide it to see every letter.To drag, hold the first letter for a moment, then slide.Keyboard: Tab to the grid, arrow keys to move, Enter on the first and last letter.

CoinCOIN
BoilBOIL
PointPOINT
VoiceVOICE
ToyTOY
EnjoyENJOY
RoyalROYAL
NoiseNOISE
SoilSOIL
MoistMOIST
ChoiceCHOICE
PoisonPOISON
AnnoyANNOY
OysterOYSTER
DestroyDESTROY
CowboyCOWBOY

16 of 20 words from the OI and OY Words list.

Sort the words you found into two columns: oi words and oy words.

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Answer key: OI and OY Word Search

TYNCTAKYIAARVNX

UBOEOGMFFOKHEEK

COINYVISJGEDIUS

ZISONOOFIEIPMEA

NLEHZIESRBLALXE

GTTKOCNWHYDSQIM

YORANEJRWSEOLYO

UDEJGAOXCALINOW

EHNAIAYROYALOKD

RZGTDNPIWIHORIE

CWXYRNOEBTAFDQS

QESRPOISONMOIST

XNGPBYNIYOYSTER

EDLAHETIOQOIMSO

DCHOICEAOOERUBY

COIN, BOIL, POINT, VOICE, TOY, ENJOY, ROYAL, NOISE, SOIL, MOIST, CHOICE, POISON, ANNOY, OYSTER, DESTROY, COWBOY

Next step Make a word search from this week's phonics words See the vowel team word lists

All 113 words

Rhymes With Oil and Boy 15

Boil To heat water until it bubbles and turns to steam.
Boy A male child.
Broil To cook close to direct heat.
Cloy To be too sweet or rich, so that the pleasure wears off.
Coil To wind into rings, as a snake or a rope does.
Coy Shy in a playful way.
Foil A very thin sheet of metal used to wrap food.
Joy Great happiness.
Ploy A clever trick used to gain an advantage.
Soil The dirt that plants grow in.
Soy A bean plant, or the dark salty sauce made from its beans.
Spoil To go bad, as old food does.
Toil Long, hard work.
Toy Something a child plays with.
Turmoil Great confusion or trouble.

One-Syllable OI Words 15

Choice The act of picking one thing from several.
Coin A flat round piece of metal money.
Foist To pass off something unwanted on another person.
Hoist To lift something heavy, often with ropes.
Join To put together, or to become a member.
Joist A beam that holds up a floor or a ceiling.
Loin A cut of meat from the back of an animal, between the ribs and the hip.
Moist Slightly wet.
Noise A loud or unpleasant sound.
Oil A slippery liquid used for cooking, for fuel or to make machines run smoothly.
Oink The grunt of a pig.
Point The sharp tip of a pencil or a pin.
Poise Calm, steady confidence.
Voice The sound you make when you speak or sing.
Void An empty space.

Show all 113 words (83 more)

Longer OI Words 47

Adjoin To be right next to.
Anoint To rub with oil, often as part of a ceremony.
Asteroid A rocky body, smaller than a planet, that orbits the sun.
Avoid To keep away from.
Ballpoint A pen whose tip is a tiny rolling ball.
Boiler A tank that heats water for a building.
Boisterous Loud, lively and hard to quiet down.
Celluloid An early plastic once used for photographic film.
Checkpoint A place where travelers stop to be inspected.
Cloister A covered walk around a courtyard, as in a monastery.
Coinage Metal money, or a newly invented word.
Counterpoint Two or more melodies played at the same time.
Devoid Completely without something.
Disappoint To let someone down.
Doily A small lacy mat put under a plate or a vase.
Embroidery Pictures or patterns sewn onto cloth with thread.
Embroil To pull someone into an argument or trouble.
Exploit A brave or daring deed.
Invoice A bill that lists goods sent and what they cost.
Loiter To stand around with nothing to do.
Midpoint The spot halfway between two ends.
Moisten To make slightly wet.
Moisture Tiny drops of water in the air or on a surface.
Moisturize To add wetness to dry skin.
Noiseless Silent.
Noisy Making a lot of sound.
Ointment A thick, smooth cream rubbed on the skin to help it heal.
Parboil To cook partly in bubbling water before finishing another way.
Pinpoint To find the exact place of something.
Poignant Deeply touching or sad.
Poinsettia A shrub from Mexico with bright red leaves that look like petals.
Poison A substance that can harm or kill a living thing.
Recoil To spring back suddenly in fear or surprise.
Rejoice To feel or show great happiness.
Rhomboid A slanted four-sided shape whose opposite sides are equal and parallel.
Sequoia A very tall evergreen tree; the redwood is one kind.
Sirloin A cut of beef from the upper part of the back.
Spoilsport A person who ruins the fun of others.
Standpoint The position from which a person judges something.
Tabloid A newspaper with small pages and many pictures.
Tenderloin The most tender strip of meat along the backbone.
Tinfoil A very thin sheet of metal for wrapping food.
Toilet A bathroom fixture that is flushed with water.
Topsoil The rich upper layer of dirt where plants root.
Trapezoid A four-sided shape with two parallel sides.
Turquoise A greenish blue stone, or its color.
Viewpoint A way of looking at or thinking about something.

Longer Words That End in OY 14

Ahoy A sailor's shout to greet a ship.
Alloy A metal made by mixing two or more metals.
Annoy To bother someone.
Convoy A group of ships or trucks traveling together.
Corduroy A thick cotton cloth with raised ridges.
Cowboy A ranch worker who herds cattle on horseback.
Decoy A model of a bird used to draw real birds closer.
Deploy To move people or equipment into position for action.
Destroy To ruin something completely.
Employ To give paid work to someone.
Enjoy To get pleasure from something.
Envoy A messenger sent by a government.
Killjoy A person who spoils the fun of others.
Viceroy A person who governs a land for a king or a queen.

OY at the Start or in the Middle 22

Annoyance Something that bothers you.
Arroyo A dry gully that fills with water after rain.
Boycott To refuse to buy or use something as a protest.
Boyhood The time of life when a man was a child.
Buoyant Able to float.
Clairvoyant A person said to see things beyond the normal senses.
Destroyer A small, fast warship.
Employee A person who works for pay.
Employer A person or company that pays people to work.
Employment Paid work.
Enjoyment Pleasure.
Flamboyant Showy and brightly colored.
Foyer An entrance hall or lobby.
Gargoyle A carved stone creature on a roof that spouts rainwater.
Joyful Full of happiness.
Joyous Very glad.
Joystick A lever that steers an aircraft or a character in a video game.
Loyal Faithful to a friend, a team or a country.
Oyster A sea animal with a rough, uneven shell, often raised for food.
Royal Belonging to a king or a queen.
Soybean A bean grown for food, for oil and for animal feed.
Voyage A long trip, usually by sea.

How this list was compiled: Own work: the word list and every clue were written for this page. Spellings, meanings and the sound of oi or oy in every word were checked on 2026-10-11 against The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, https://www.ahdictionary.com/. Licence: own work

How it works

This oi oy word search opens on 16 words that share one vowel sound: Coin, Boil, Point and Voice with oi, Toy, Enjoy and Royal with oy. Five more lists sort 113 words by spelling and by where the two letters sit.

Read the full guide

Lists for oi

Under Start from a list, One-Syllable OI Words has Oil, Coin, Join, Moist and Choice. Longer OI Words has 47, from Avoid and Poison to Turquoise, Embroidery and Poinsettia. Rhymes With Oil and Boy sets Boil, Soil and Spoil beside Toy, Joy and Ploy.

Lists for oy

Longer Words That End in OY has Enjoy, Annoy, Destroy, Cowboy and Corduroy. OY at the Start or in the Middle has Oyster, Royal, Voyage, Gargoyle and Employment. The sheet prints a task: sort the words you found into an oi column and an oy column.

Oil reads inside Boil, Soil and Spoil, so it sits in another list and no puzzle hides both.
Short OI and OY Words has 36 words of three to five letters, such as Boy, Joy, Coin, Foil and Royal.
Under More options, tick Show clues, not words and Cowboy prints as "A ranch worker who herds cattle on horseback."

Questions and answers

What sound do oi and oy make?

The same one: the vowel sound in coin and toy. It is a diphthong, a sound that begins with one vowel and glides to another inside a single syllable.

When do you use oi and when oy?

In these lists oy ends a word or a base word (toy, enjoy, joyful, employment) or comes before a vowel (royal, voyage). Oi comes before a consonant (coin, point, moisture). Oyster, boycott, gargoyle and sequoia break the pattern.

Does oi always make the same sound?

No. In choir the letters sound like the vowel in fire, in tortoise the last syllable is a short tis, and in coincide the o and the i fall in different syllables. In coyote, oy sounds like the i in kite.

What are some oi and oy words?

Common oi words are oil, coin, join, point, noise and voice. Common oy words are boy, toy, joy, enjoy and royal. The lists on this page hold 70 words spelled with oi and 43 with oy, each with a one-line meaning.

All 113 words

Rhymes With Oil and Boy 15

One-Syllable OI Words 15

Longer OI Words 47

Longer Words That End in OY 14

OY at the Start or in the Middle 22

How it works

Lists for oi

Lists for oy

Questions and answers

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