• 120 words
  • Checked October 2026

Root Words for Spelling Bee

Pick a root, press Start test and type ten words built on it, each read in a sentence.

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

List 1: port, to carry

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

  1. 1.portableWe brought a portable speaker to the picnic.
  2. 2.transportThe ferry can transport forty cars.
  3. 3.reportShe gave a report on volcanoes.
  4. 4.porterA porter carried our bags upstairs.
  5. 5.portfolioThe artist opened her portfolio of sketches.
  6. 6.reporterThe reporter asked the mayor two questions.
  7. 7.supportiveMy team was supportive after the loss.
  8. 8.exporterThe country is a large exporter of coffee.
  9. 9.importerThe importer buys tea from three countries.
  10. 10.transporterA car transporter blocked the right lane.

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 Print Greek and Latin roots worksheetsBee rounds from easy to hard

All 120 words

List 1: port, to carry 10

  • exporter The country is a large exporter of coffee.
  • importer The importer buys tea from three countries.
  • portable We brought a portable speaker to the picnic.
  • porter A porter carried our bags upstairs.
  • portfolio The artist opened her portfolio of sketches.
  • report She gave a report on volcanoes.
  • reporter The reporter asked the mayor two questions.
  • supportive My team was supportive after the loss.
  • transport The ferry can transport forty cars.
  • transporter A car transporter blocked the right lane.

List 2: struct, to build 10

  • construct They will construct a new gym this year.
  • destructive The storm was the most destructive in years.
  • indestructible The toy truck seemed almost indestructible.
  • infrastructure Roads and bridges are part of a city's infrastructure.
  • instruct The coach will instruct us on the rules.
  • instructor Our swim instructor blew her whistle.
  • obstruct A fallen tree may obstruct the trail.
  • reconstruct Workers will reconstruct the damaged wall.
  • restructure The club voted to restructure its meetings.
  • structure The tallest structure in town is a tower.

List 3: graph, to write 10

  • autograph I asked the goalie for an autograph.
  • biographer The biographer interviewed the singer's family.
  • calligraphy She wrote the invitations in calligraphy.
  • cartography Maps are the work of cartography.
  • graphic The poster had a bold graphic design.
  • graphite The pencil's core is made of graphite.
  • oceanography She hopes to study oceanography in college.
  • photography My uncle teaches photography at night.
  • telegraph The museum had an old telegraph machine.
  • typography The designer studied typography for the logo.

List 4: bio, life 10

  • amphibious An amphibious vehicle drove into the lake.
  • antibiotics The farmer asked the vet about antibiotics.
  • biochemistry He chose biochemistry as his major.
  • biofuel The bus runs on biofuel.
  • biological The lake has great biological variety.
  • biologist The biologist counted frogs in the pond.
  • biology We study plants and animals in biology.
  • biomass The plant burns biomass to make power.
  • bionic The film's hero had a bionic arm.
  • biosphere The biosphere includes the oceans.

List 5: tele, far 10

  • telecast The telecast began at eight o'clock.
  • telecommute My dad can telecommute on Fridays.
  • telegram The news arrived by telegram.
  • telemetry The rocket sent telemetry to the ground crew.
  • telepathy The twins joked that they had telepathy.
  • telephone An old telephone hung on the wall.
  • telephoto She used a telephoto lens for the birds.
  • teleport In the game, you teleport between rooms.
  • televise The station will televise the parade.
  • television The television was off all weekend.

List 6: aud, to hear 10

  • audible The bell was audible from the field.
  • audibly He sighed audibly at the long line.
  • audience The audience clapped for the band.
  • audiobook We listened to an audiobook in the car.
  • audiologist An audiologist tested my hearing.
  • audiology The clinic has an audiology office.
  • audiotape The interview was saved on audiotape.
  • audit The club asked for an audit of its funds.
  • auditor The auditor checked every receipt.
  • auditory The ear holds the auditory nerve.

List 7: scrib and script, to write 10

  • describe Can you describe the sound you heard?
  • inscribe They will inscribe her name on the trophy.
  • inscription The ring had a tiny inscription inside.
  • nondescript He drove a nondescript gray car.
  • postscript She added a postscript below her name.
  • prescribe The doctor may prescribe a new medicine.
  • script The actors read the script aloud.
  • subscription My subscription to the magazine ends in June.
  • transcribe I had to transcribe the whole interview.
  • transcript The court clerk typed a transcript.

List 8: spect, to look 10

  • aspect Cost is one aspect of the plan.
  • circumspect She gave a circumspect answer to the press.
  • expectation The film did not meet my expectation.
  • inspect The officer will inspect each bag.
  • inspector The inspector checked the new wiring.
  • introspection The diary is full of quiet introspection.
  • perspective The drawing shows the street in perspective.
  • prospect The prospect of snow excited the class.
  • retrospect In retrospect, we left too late.
  • spectator A spectator waved a huge flag.

List 9: rupt, to break 10

  • abruptly The music stopped abruptly.
  • corrupt A power outage can corrupt the file.
  • corruption The reporter wrote about corruption at city hall.
  • disruption The snow caused a disruption in bus service.
  • disruptive The loud phone was disruptive in class.
  • erupt The crowd began to erupt in cheers.
  • incorruptible The judge was known as incorruptible.
  • interrupt A fire drill may interrupt the lesson.
  • interruption We worked for an hour without interruption.
  • rupture A rupture in the pipe flooded the street.

List 10: dict, to say 10

  • contradiction The two reports were in contradiction.
  • dictation The teacher read the dictation slowly.
  • dictator The dictator ruled without any vote.
  • dictionary The dictionary sat open on the desk.
  • edict The king issued an edict about taxes.
  • indictment The grand jury returned an indictment.
  • interdict The court issued an interdict on the sale.
  • predict I predict that it will rain tonight.
  • predictable The ending of the movie was predictable.
  • unpredictable The bounce of the ball was unpredictable.

List 11: ject, to throw 10

  • dejected The team looked dejected after the game.
  • eject Press the button to eject the disc.
  • injection The nurse gave the horse an injection.
  • interject May I interject a quick question?
  • objection The lawyer raised an objection.
  • objective The main objective was a safe landing.
  • projectile The arrow is a projectile in this lesson.
  • projection The map uses a flat projection of Earth.
  • projector The projector showed the film on the wall.
  • rejection She handled the rejection letter with grace.

List 12: tract, to pull 10

  • abstract The gallery showed abstract paintings.
  • attraction The roller coaster is the main attraction.
  • attractive The shop has an attractive window display.
  • contraction The word don't is a contraction.
  • detract One typo does not detract from the essay.
  • distraction The noise was a distraction during the test.
  • extraction The dentist did the extraction in minutes.
  • protractor Measure the angle with a protractor.
  • retract The cat can retract its claws.
  • traction The tires lost traction on the ice.

How it works

This root word spelling list has 120 words on twelve roots, ten to a root. Nine roots are Latin, such as port, to carry, and three are Greek: graph, bio and tele.

Read the full guide

A Greek and Latin root words spelling list

Each list is named for its root and meaning: port, to carry; struct, to build; graph, to write; bio, life; tele, far; aud, to hear; scrib and script, to write; spect, to look; rupt, to break; dict, to say; ject, to throw; tract, to pull. A list opens with plain words (report, construct) and goes on to longer ones (supportive, indestructible).

How a root helps in a bee

The letters of a root mostly stay put when the word grows: the rupt of erupt is still there in interruption and incorruptible, and the scrib of describe turns to script in inscription and transcript.

  • Indictment, in List 10, is said in-dite-ment: the c of dict is silent.
  • Teleport, in the tele list, also ends in port.

Questions and answers

Which spelling words here have Latin roots?

Nine of the twelve lists: port, struct, aud, scrib, spect, rupt, dict, ject and tract come from Latin verbs such as portare, to carry. Graph, bio and tele are Greek.

What does the root spect mean?

To look. A spectator looks on, an inspector looks into things, and retrospect is a look back. List 8 has ten such words.

Are these the same words as the 5th grade roots?

Fifteen plain words such as portable, erupt and predict are also on another spelling test list of this site, eleven of them on 5th grade spelling words. The other 105 are on no other spelling test list here.

Why is audiovisual missing?

The dictionary's headword is audio-visual, with a hyphen, and the test takes one spelling. Audiobook, audiotape and audiologist are in the aud list instead.

More tools

Show 7 more

Browse Flashcards