Sight Word Going – Worksheet: Go Keeps Its O, Add Ing

The sight words and their practice lines

The word on its own 2

going 5 letters for 4 sounds: g, a long o, a short i, then n-g as one sound. It is go with i-n-g added, and nothing in go changes. Both g's drop below the base line.
Going going Capital G beside small g. The capital sits on the line; the small g drops below it.

Spot-the-word rows 4

doing going doing Circle going 1 time. Doing changes only the first letter, but it does not rhyme: the o of do says oo.
giving going gone Circle going 1 time. Giving has i-v where going has its o. Gone has no i-n-g.
going go going Circle going 2 times. Go is the first two letters on their own.
going gong going Circle going 2 times. Gong has no i, so it has one beat where going has two.

Missing-letter rows 2

g_ing goi__ First the o is gone, then n-g, the two letters that make the last sound.
_oing go___ First the g is gone, then the whole ending: i-n-g.

Show all 30 practice lines (22 more)

Phrases with going 10

get going Get sounds out. Get going means start now.
going by bus Bus sounds out. By ends in a y that says long i.
going fast Fast sounds out: f, a, s, t.
going for a swim Swim sounds out. In for, o-r works as one sound.
going home The e on home is silent and the o says its name, as it does in going.
going on a trip On and trip sound out.
going out Out starts with o-u, two letters for one sound.
going to bed Bed sounds out.
going up Up sounds out.
not going Not sounds out. Its o is short; the o in going is long.

Sentences to read and copy 12

Going home is fun. 4 words. Going comes first, so it takes a capital G. Fun sounds out.
How is it going? 4 words. A question that asks how things are. It sounds out.
I am going home. 4 words. Am sounds out. Home ends in a silent e.
Is he going with us? 5 words. A question mark ends it. Us sounds out.
It is going to rain. 5 words. In rain, a-i says long a.
The plane is going up. 5 words. Up sounds out. Plane ends in a silent e.
They are going fast. 4 words. Fast sounds out.
The tide is going out. 5 words. Out starts with o-u. Tide ends in a silent e.
We are going to the zoo. 6 words. Going is the third word. Zoo ends in o-o.
We are not going yet. 5 words. Not and yet sound out.
We keep going. 3 words. Keep has e-e, two letters for one long e.
Where are you going? 4 words. Going comes last, right before the question mark.

How this list was compiled: Every line was written for this site on 2026-10-01 and read aloud for sense. No line is taken from a published sight word list or workbook, and the page claims no list or grade level for the word. That going is go with -ing added, that it splits go-ing and that it has two beats: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/going (etymology, pronunciation and hyphenation, checked 2026-10-01). That growing, showing and knowing share its rhyme and doing does not: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/growing, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/showing, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/knowing and https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/doing (pronunciation and rhymes, checked 2026-10-01). That the o of gone has another sound: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gone (checked 2026-10-01). Each sound, rhyme and sounds-out note was also compared with the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cmusphinx/cmudict/master/cmudict.dict (2026-10-01). Spellings were checked against the macOS system word list. The counts in the spot-the-word rows and the word counts of the sentences were worked out. Sound notes describe general American pronunciation. Licence: own work

How it works

The sight word going is go with i-n-g on the end, and nothing is dropped or doubled. This sheet has the child trace it, circle it among go, doing, gong and giving, and finish We are ___ to the zoo.

Read the full guide

Go stays whole

Wiktionary gives going as go with -ing added and splits it go-ing. A child who can write go already has the first two letters. Clap the two beats: go, ing. The o still says its name, and n-g ends the word as one sound.

Doing is not its rhyme

Doing differs by one letter and sounds quite different, because the o of do says oo. Growing, showing and knowing are the real rhymes. The row doing going doing puts the look-alike on each side of the word.

Cover i-n-g with a finger. The child reads go, then lifts the finger and reads going.
Lay down the g and o tiles, read go, then slide the ing tile up to them.
Dictate Where are you going? and check the question mark.

Questions and answers

Can the sight word going be sounded out?

Yes, in two beats. Go ends in an o that says its name, as in no and so. Then comes i-n-g, an ending the child will meet on many words. Read go, then add the ending.

Why does my student write goin or goeing?

Goin leaves off the g: n-g is one sound, so the g is not heard alone. Goeing borrows the e of goes. The row g_ing goi__ has the child put back the o and then n-g.

How is going different from go and gone?

Go is the base word: I go. Going adds i-n-g: I am going. Gone has no i-n-g, and its o no longer says its name. Go and gone are both in the find grid.

Sight Word Going Worksheet