Short U Words Spelled O – Son, Come, Love, Mother, Oven

All 70 words

List 1: o before n (son) 12

front A puddle formed by the front steps.
honey Stir a spoonful of honey into the oatmeal.
money I counted my money on the rug.
monk A monk swept the stone path.
monkey A monkey swung past the feeding deck.
month Rehearsals start later this month.
son The farmer and his son fixed the gate.
sponge Squeeze the sponge over the bucket.
ton A ton of gravel filled the truck.
tongue The puppy's tongue hung out after the run.
won Our class won the reading trophy.
wonder I wonder where the creek begins.

List 2: o with a silent e (come, love) 12

above Hang the pennant above the bookshelf.
become The seedling will become a tall sunflower.
come Can you come to my recital tonight?
done Are you done with the blue marker?
dove A gray dove cooed on the wire.
glove One glove fell behind the radiator.
income Selling eggs gave the farm extra income.
love Grandparents love getting mail from camp.
none By Friday none of the cookies remained.
shove Never shove anyone in the lunch line.
some Save some popcorn for the second half.
undone My left shoelace keeps coming undone.

Show all 70 words (46 more)

List 3: o before th (mother) 10

another We need another chair at this table.
brother My brother taught me to whistle.
grandmother My grandmother keeps bees behind her shed.
mother The mother duck led her ducklings across.
motherly The nurse gave the kitten a motherly pat.
nothing The empty jar held nothing but crumbs.
other Try the other key in that lock.
otherwise Wear boots, otherwise your socks get soaked.
smother Use wet sand to smother the campfire.
stepbrother Her stepbrother plays the trombone in band.

List 4: o before v (oven) 12

cover Put a cover on the sandbox tonight.
covering Frost was covering the car windows.
discover You may discover a nest in that hedge.
discovery The fossil was an exciting discovery.
govern The students wrote rules to govern recess games.
government Our class visited a government office downtown.
governor The governor spoke at the state fair.
lovely What a lovely view from the bridge.
oven Warm rolls came out of the oven.
recover The team hopes to recover the lost kite.
shovel A red shovel leaned against the fence.
uncover Brush away the sand to uncover the shell.

List 5: o before m (something) 12

comfort A warm blanket is a comfort on cold nights.
comforter The puppy napped on a puffy comforter.
company The puppet company performed in our gym.
newcomer We showed the newcomer where to hang coats.
outcome Nobody could guess the outcome of the race.
someday I hope to climb that hill someday.
somehow The cat somehow got onto the roof.
someone Will someone hold the ladder steady?
something I smell something baking down the hall.
sometimes We sometimes eat lunch on the steps.
somewhere My striped mitten is somewhere in the car.
stomach The kitten rolled over to show its stomach.

List 6: longer words, dozen and color (Monday) 12

color Pick a color for the kite tail.
colorful A colorful quilt hung over the railing.
coloring The coloring book had a maze inside.
dozen The recipe makes a dozen muffins.
grandson The baker taught his grandson to knead dough.
honeydew We sliced a honeydew melon for the picnic.
Monday Library books are due back on Monday.
monthly The chess club holds a monthly match.
onion Chop half an onion for the soup.
spongy Moss made the trail soft and spongy.
stepson She cheered as her stepson crossed the finish line.
wonderful The fireworks made a wonderful finale.

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 9 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 the lists teach and for a second spelling on the headword line, and in Wiktionary (https://en.wiktionary.org/, CC BY-SA 4.0), where each has an English entry. The dictionary writes the vowel as ŭ, the sound of cup, which Wikipedia's Phonics article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonics) lists as short u. Dove is the bird, the dictionary's first entry; its second, a past form of dive, has long o. Won is the past form of win. WHY O: Wikipedia's article Minim (palaeography) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minim_(palaeography), CC BY-SA 4.0, read 9 October 2026). SOUND-ALIKES: son (sun), some (sum), done (dun), none (nun), ton (tonne, tun), won (one). American Heritage gives the words of each pair one pronunciation; the sentence read with the word settles which one is meant. LEFT OUT: from, of, hover, compass, pommel and coven (the dictionary gives each a second pronunciation without short u), among (also amongst), somersault (also summersault), lovable (also loveable), one and once (the o stands for w and short u together), welcome and handsome (the o is unstressed and the dictionary writes it ə, not ŭ). The other words the page names, from touch and blood to home and stove, were looked up in the same dictionary. Spellings are American. Licence: own work

How it works

These short u words spelled o fill 6 lists, 70 words in all, from son and love to government and wonderful. Each has a sentence, to print beside the word or to hear in a test.

Read the full guide

Short u words spelled with o, sorted by the next letter

List 1 has o before n: son, front, month, money. List 2 ends in a silent e that does not make the o long: come, some, done, none, love, glove, above. List 3 is o before th (mother, brother, nothing), List 4 o before v (oven, cover, shovel) and List 5 o before m (something, comfort, stomach). List 6 holds longer words such as Monday, onion and grandson, then dozen and color, where the o stands before z and l.

Set List 2 beside long o words: come and home, done and bone, love and stove end in the same letters and do not rhyme.
Son, some, done and none each sound like a word spelled with u: sun, sum, dun, nun. The sentence tells the child which to write.
Dove is on List 2 as the bird. Dove as a past form of dive has long o.

Questions and answers

Why is short u spelled with o in some words?

Wikipedia's article on the minim, a pen stroke, says Middle English scribes drew a line over a u that stood before m, n or v, to remove ambiguity, and that an o later took its place. Come, honey and love kept the spelling.

Is from a short u word?

The American Heritage Dictionary gives from two pronunciations when it is stressed, one with short u and one with short o, and does the same for of. Both are left off these lists, as are hover and compass.

Are one and once short u words?

In the dictionary one has the same sounds as won, and once is the same with an s sound at the end. The o stands for w and short u together, so neither is on these lists.

What other letters spell the short u sound?

The dictionary gives the same vowel to ou in touch, young, double, trouble, cousin and country, to oo in blood and flood, and to oe in does. These lists keep to words with a single o.