all3 letters for 2 sounds. The a says aw, as in saw, and the two l's make one sound between them. Both l's reach the top line.
All allCapital A beside small a. The capital is two slanted strokes with a bar across; the small a is a circle with a short stick down its right side.
all all all all allFive to trace in one row: five round letters and ten tall strokes. Every l starts at the top and comes straight down.
Spot-the-word rows 4
all also all alwaysCircle all 2 times. Also and always each grew out of all joined to another word, and each kept only one l.
all ill all add allCircle all 3 times. Ill ends in the same two l's behind a different first letter. Add opens with the same a and doubles its last letter too, but the doubled letter is a d.
are all and all askCircle all 2 times. Are, and and ask also have three letters and open with an a. Only all finishes with two tall strokes.
ball all tall all callCircle all 2 times. Ball, tall and call rhyme with all and keep the whole word behind one extra letter.
Show all 34 practice lines (27 more)
Missing-letter rows 3
al_ a_l _llOne letter is missing each time: l, then l again, then a. Two of the three gaps want the same tall letter.
all al_ a__ ___Copy the word, then lose one letter at each step. By the last gap the child writes a, l, l with nothing to look at.
b___ c___ t___The same three letters fill every gap: ball, call, tall. One spelling learned, three more words that come with it.
Short phrases with all 12
all by myselfMyself is my and self pushed together. The y says a long i in by and again in my.
all dayThe ay in day says a long a. All day means from morning until night.
all doneThe o in done says a short u, and its e is silent. What a child says when the pencil goes down.
all goneGone looks like done but does not rhyme with it. Trace this one after all done and read the two aloud.
all in a rowThe ow in row says a long o. Line up some counters, touch each one, and say the phrase.
all of itOf is said uv, and it sounds out. The phrase for a plate left clean.
all setSet sounds out. Two short words that together mean ready.
all the ballsAll, and then all again inside balls. The s on the end means more than one.
all the timeThe e on the end of time is silent and lets the i say its name.
all wetWet sounds out: w, e, t. Swap wet for red, big or mine and read it again.
not at allNot and at sound out. Three small words that make a no much stronger.
that is allAll comes last here, where the voice lands on it. That opens with t-h.
Sentences to read and copy 12
All my pals ran.4 words. Pals and all share a-l, but pals has one l and the a of cat. Read the two words aloud to hear the a change.
All the balls are red.5 words, the widest line here. All comes first with a capital A, then turns up again inside balls.
Are we all here?4 words. Are and all both open with an a, and neither a says the a of cat. A line to read aloud when the class lines up.
Can all of us go?5 words and a question mark. All of us means nobody is left out. Go ends in an o that says its name.
I ate it all.4 words. The silent e in ate lets its a say its name, and the a in all says aw. Two a's in one line, and neither is the a of cat.
Is that all?3 words and a question mark. The same words as that is all, with the first two swapped to make a question.
Pick them all up.4 words. Them opens with t-h, and up sounds out. Say it when the blocks are on the floor.
That is all I have.5 words. All sits in the middle, right after is. The e on the end of have is silent and leaves the a short.
We all can play.4 words. All sits between we and can. Play starts with the blend p-l, and its ay says a long a.
We all fall down.4 words, the closing line of the ring game Ring Around the Rosie, called Ring a Ring o' Roses in Britain. All and fall rhyme, and the ow in down is the ow of cow.
We can all fit in.5 words. Can, fit and in sound out. Set it beside We all can play.: all is at home on either side of can.
We play all day.4 words. Play and day rhyme and share the ay that says a long a. All comes third.
How this list was compiled: Every line was written for this site on 2026-09-18 and read aloud for sense, except We all fall down., which is the closing line of the common British and American versions of the traditional singing game Ring a Ring o' Roses, which has been described in print since the mid-19th century (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_a_Ring_o%27_Roses, checked 2026-09-19). No line is taken from a published sight word list or workbook, and the page claims no list or grade level for the word. Spellings were checked against the macOS system word list on 2026-09-18; balls and pals are plain plurals that the list leaves out, and were checked one by one. The counts in the spot-the-word rows and the word counts of the sentences were worked out. That all is said with the aw of saw (or, for speakers with the cot-caught merger, the vowel of father), that awl is a homophone, and that the Old English form was eall: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/all (pronunciation, homophones and etymology, checked 2026-09-19). That ball, call, fall, hall, tall, wall and small rhyme with all: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Rhymes:English/ɔːl (checked 2026-09-18). That pal has the a of cat and does not rhyme with all: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Rhymes:English/æl (checked 2026-09-18). That also comes from Old English eallswā, equivalent to all plus so: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/also (checked 2026-09-19). That always comes from Old English ealne weg, all the way: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/always (checked 2026-09-18). Sound notes describe general American pronunciation. Licence: own work
How it works
All has an a that says aw and two l's for one sound, so spelling by ear gives ol or al. This sight word all sheet has the child trace it, find it among ill and ball, and build it.
Read the full guide
An a that says aw, and an l written twice
All has 3 letters and 2 sounds. Wiktionary gives its a the aw of saw, or, where cot and caught sound alike, the a of father. The second l is the clue: pals, with one l, keeps the a of cat, while ball, call, fall, hall, tall, wall and small rhyme with all. Shall breaks the pattern: it rhymes with pal. The Oxford English Corpus ranking on Wikipedia places all 36th among English words.
From all to ball, call and tall
Once all is secure, put one letter in front. Write the row b___ c___ t___ on the board: each needs the same three letters. Type "We all fall down." into A sentence with it to print it. Fall is all with an f in front.
Also and always began as all joined to another word, and each dropped an l.
We all fall down. closes the ring game Ring Around the Rosie. Play it, then write the line.
The a starts under the dashed line and both l's under the top line: one low start, two high.
Questions and answers
Is all a word to sound out or to learn by sight?
Some of each. The l is regular, and across the all family the a says aw. A child who knows only the a of cat cannot sound it out yet, so teach word and pattern together.
My student writes al or ol for all. What helps?
Al is one l short, and ol is spelling by ear. Write the row al_ a_l _ll, then b___ c___ t___, where the same three letters finish ball, call and tall: a, l, l three more times.
What should an all sight word worksheet practice first?
The double l. Have the child trace all and say two letters, one sound. Then circle it among ill and ball, which sit one letter away from it, before any sentence work.