Words Spelled With Ought

Ought spelling words in two lists, with the aught look-alikes in a third.

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: ought in one syllable (bought, drought)

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

  1. 1.oughtYou ought to see the tulips this week.
  2. 2.boughtDad bought a kite at the beach shop.
  3. 3.broughtThe tide brought driftwood onto the sand.
  4. 4.foughtThe kittens fought over a ball of yarn.
  5. 5.soughtThe explorers sought a pass through the mountains.
  6. 6.thoughtI thought the puzzle had more pieces.
  7. 7.wroughtA wrought iron gate guarded the garden.
  8. 8.droughtThe long drought dried up the pond.

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 The six sounds of ough: though, through, toughMore silent gh words: eight, weigh, sourdough

All 30 words

List 1: ought in one syllable (bought, drought) 8

  • bought Dad bought a kite at the beach shop.
  • brought The tide brought driftwood onto the sand.
  • drought The long drought dried up the pond.
  • fought The kittens fought over a ball of yarn.
  • ought You ought to see the tulips this week.
  • sought The explorers sought a pass through the mountains.
  • thought I thought the puzzle had more pieces.
  • wrought A wrought iron gate guarded the garden.

List 2: ought in longer words (thoughtful) 10

  • afterthought Dessert was added to the menu as an afterthought.
  • forethought With some forethought we avoided the traffic.
  • overwrought The overwrought puppy barked at every leaf.
  • rethought The coach rethought the lineup at halftime.
  • store-bought The store-bought pie tasted almost homemade.
  • thoughtful A thoughtful note was tucked in my lunchbox.
  • thoughtfully He thoughtfully saved a seat for his sister.
  • thoughtfulness We thanked the driver for her thoughtfulness.
  • thoughtless Leaving the gate open was thoughtless.
  • thoughtlessly Someone thoughtlessly left muddy boots on the rug.

List 3: aught, the look-alikes (caught, laughter) 12

  • caught My brother caught a trout before breakfast.
  • daughter The farmer's daughter drives the tractor.
  • distraught The distraught owner searched for her parrot.
  • fraught The icy crossing was fraught with danger.
  • granddaughter The baker's granddaughter frosts the cupcakes.
  • haughty The haughty prince ignored the villagers.
  • laughter Loud laughter spilled out of the lunchroom.
  • naughty The naughty goat chewed through its rope.
  • self-taught The self-taught baker opened a shop.
  • stepdaughter Her stepdaughter plays the cello.
  • taught An old sailor taught us three knots.
  • untaught An untaught pup pulls on the leash.

How it works

The words spelled with ought are few: ought, bought, brought, fought, sought, thought, wrought and drought. With their longer forms that makes 18 here, and a third list holds 12 aught look-alikes.

Read the full guide

A list of words spelled with ought, then aught

List 1 is the eight one-syllable words, with drought last. List 2 puts thought, wrought and bought inside longer words: thoughtful, afterthought, overwrought, store-bought. List 3 is aught: caught, taught, daughter, naughty, and laughter last, where aught says aft.

  • Catch and teach have an a, and so do caught and taught. Buy, bring, think, fight and seek have none: bought, brought, thought, fought, sought.

Questions and answers

What sound does ought make?

The dictionary writes bought as bôt: the vowel of paw, then t, with no sound for the g and h. Brought, fought, sought, thought and wrought match it. Drought is the one ought word here with another sound, the ow of cow.

Is it bought or brought?

Both are words. Bought is the past of buy: I bought a ticket. Brought is the past of bring: I brought my ticket. The r of bring stays in brought.

Is nought spelled with ought?

Yes. Nought is a second spelling of naught, which means nothing or the figure zero. The dictionary enters the word under naught, so the lists leave it out.

Do though, through and tough belong here?

No. They are spelled with ough and no t, and each has its own sound. They are with the six sounds of ough on the spelling pattern lists.

More tools

Show 8 more

Browse Flashcards