• 180 words

Spelling Bee Vocabulary List With a Read-Aloud Practice Round

Spelling bee practice words in three rounds, from rabbit to trousseau, read aloud the way a bee pronouncer reads them.

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

Warm-up 1: double letters

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

  1. 1.rabbitThe rabbit hopped across the garden.
  2. 2.kittenA kitten is a young cat.
  3. 3.muffinI ate a blueberry muffin for breakfast.
  4. 4.hammerUse a hammer to hit the nail.
  5. 5.puppetThe puppet danced on its strings.
  6. 6.buttonA button fell off my coat.
  7. 7.puddleShe jumped over the puddle.
  8. 8.pepperPlease pass the salt and pepper.
  9. 9.tennisWe play tennis with a racket.
  10. 10.trafficThe traffic stopped at the red light.

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Each word is read aloud, then used in a sentence. Type what you hear. The marks come at the end.

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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
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The words are mixed from the lists you tick, so a review test needs a read-aloud voice.

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All 180 words

Warm-up 1: double letters 10

  • button A button fell off my coat.
  • hammer Use a hammer to hit the nail.
  • kitten A kitten is a young cat.
  • muffin I ate a blueberry muffin for breakfast.
  • pepper Please pass the salt and pepper.
  • puddle She jumped over the puddle.
  • puppet The puppet danced on its strings.
  • rabbit The rabbit hopped across the garden.
  • tennis We play tennis with a racket.
  • traffic The traffic stopped at the red light.

Warm-up 2: ee or ea 10

  • beaver A beaver builds a dam from sticks.
  • bleach The sun can bleach a red shirt pink.
  • breeze A cool breeze blew off the lake.
  • feast The village cooked a feast for everyone.
  • fleece The farmer sheared the fleece from the sheep.
  • screech We heard the screech of the brakes.
  • sleeve Roll up your sleeve to wash.
  • speech The mayor gave a short speech.
  • squeak The old door opened with a squeak.
  • wheat Bread flour is made from wheat.

Warm-up 3: silent k, w and b 10

  • crumb Not a crumb of cake was left.
  • knack She has a knack for fixing bikes.
  • kneel Kneel down to tie your shoe.
  • knit Grandma will knit a wool scarf.
  • knob Turn the knob to open the door.
  • knuckle A knuckle is a joint in your finger.
  • limb A limb broke off the oak tree.
  • numb My fingers went numb in the snow.
  • wren A wren is a small brown bird.
  • wrench Tighten the bolt with a wrench.

Warm-up 4: compound words 10

  • bookshelf Put the atlas back on the bookshelf.
  • grasshopper A grasshopper jumped out of the weeds.
  • headache Loud noise gives me a headache.
  • horseshoe The blacksmith nailed a horseshoe to the hoof.
  • lighthouse The lighthouse warned ships about the rocks.
  • shoelace My shoelace came untied during the race.
  • skateboard He rode his skateboard down the ramp.
  • staircase A spiral staircase leads to the tower.
  • thunderstorm The thunderstorm knocked out the power.
  • toothbrush Rinse your toothbrush after you use it.

Warm-up 5: animals 10

  • giraffe The giraffe ate leaves from a tall tree.
  • gorilla The gorilla beat its chest.
  • lizard The lizard sat on a warm rock.
  • ostrich An ostrich is the largest living bird.
  • pelican A pelican scoops up fish in its bill.
  • penguin A penguin cannot fly, but it swims well.
  • porcupine A porcupine is covered in sharp quills.
  • squirrel A squirrel buried an acorn in the yard.
  • tortoise The tortoise pulled its head into its shell.
  • walrus A walrus has two long tusks.

Warm-up 6: food 10

  • almond An almond is an oval, light brown nut.
  • carrot The horse ate a carrot from my hand.
  • celery Celery makes a loud crunch when you bite it.
  • cucumber Slice the cucumber for the salad.
  • lemonade We sold cold lemonade on a hot day.
  • mustard He put yellow mustard on his sandwich.
  • raisin A raisin is a dried grape.
  • sausage We grilled a sausage for each guest.
  • spinach Spinach is a dark green leafy vegetable.
  • walnut Crack the walnut open with a nutcracker.

School round 1: sion and ssion 10

  • admission Admission to the museum is free on Sunday.
  • concussion The doctor checked the player for a concussion.
  • dimension Height is one dimension of a box.
  • excursion The class took an excursion to the coast.
  • expansion Heat causes the expansion of metal.
  • extension Plug the lamp into the extension cord.
  • mansion The mansion has thirty rooms.
  • pension After retiring, she lived on her pension.
  • procession A procession of cars followed the band.
  • suspension A suspension bridge hangs from steel cables.

School round 2: weather and land 10

  • avalanche An avalanche of snow slid down the mountain.
  • barometer A barometer measures air pressure.
  • drizzle A light drizzle fell all morning.
  • drought Crops died during the long drought.
  • forecast The forecast says rain will fall tomorrow.
  • horizon The sun sank below the horizon.
  • humidity High humidity makes the air feel sticky.
  • hurricane The hurricane brought strong wind and heavy rain.
  • peninsula Florida is a peninsula with water on three sides.
  • tornado A tornado is a spinning column of air.

School round 3: math class 10

  • decimal A decimal point separates dollars from cents.
  • diameter The diameter crosses the center of a circle.
  • estimate Estimate the answer before you work it out.
  • hexagon A hexagon has six sides.
  • multiply Multiply six by seven to get forty-two.
  • numerator The numerator is the top number of a fraction.
  • perimeter Perimeter is the distance around a shape.
  • polygon A polygon is a closed shape with straight sides.
  • radius The radius is half of the diameter.
  • rectangle A rectangle has four right angles.

School round 4: science class 10

  • asteroid An asteroid is a rock that orbits the sun.
  • electricity The lamp needs electricity to work.
  • evaporate Puddles evaporate quickly in the hot sun.
  • friction Friction slows a sled on dry grass.
  • galaxy Our galaxy is called the Milky Way.
  • gravity Gravity pulls a dropped ball to the ground.
  • habitat A pond is the habitat of a frog.
  • hydrogen Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen.
  • nucleus The nucleus is the center of an atom.
  • oxygen We breathe in oxygen from the air.

School round 5: jobs 10

  • carpenter The carpenter built shelves from pine boards.
  • custodian The custodian keeps the school clean.
  • detective The detective looked for clues.
  • engineer An engineer designed the new bridge.
  • journalist A journalist reports the news.
  • pharmacist The pharmacist filled the prescription.
  • photographer The photographer took our class picture.
  • referee The referee stopped the game for a foul.
  • tailor A tailor shortened the sleeves of my jacket.
  • umpire The umpire called the runner out.

School round 6: music and art 10

  • applause The applause lasted for a full minute.
  • clarinet She plays the clarinet in the school band.
  • mosaic A mosaic is a picture made of small tiles.
  • palette The painter mixed colors on a palette.
  • portrait A portrait is a picture of a person.
  • rehearsal The choir has a rehearsal before the concert.
  • saxophone A saxophone is made of brass.
  • sculpture The artist carved a sculpture from marble.
  • tambourine Shake the tambourine in time with the song.
  • trombone You play a trombone by moving its slide.

Final round 1: from French 10

  • baguette A baguette is a long, thin loaf of bread.
  • chagrin To my chagrin, I misspelled the first word.
  • crevasse A crevasse is a deep crack in a glacier.
  • ensemble The string ensemble played for an hour.
  • meringue The pie was topped with fluffy meringue.
  • pirouette The dancer spun in a perfect pirouette.
  • raconteur A raconteur tells stories with great skill.
  • saboteur A saboteur cut the wires on purpose.
  • trousseau The bride packed her trousseau in a trunk.
  • vignette Each vignette in the book describes one brief scene.

Final round 2: Greek roots 10

  • chaos The fire drill turned the hallway into chaos.
  • chlorine Chlorine keeps the pool water clean.
  • etymology Etymology is the study of where words come from.
  • euphoria Winning the final brought a feeling of euphoria.
  • hieroglyphic The tomb wall held a hieroglyphic message.
  • hippopotamus A hippopotamus spends the day in the river.
  • orchid An orchid bloomed on the windowsill.
  • ornithology Ornithology is the study of birds.
  • philanthropy Her philanthropy paid for the new library.
  • xylophone She played the xylophone with two mallets.

Final round 3: from Italian 10

  • extravaganza The circus put on a holiday extravaganza.
  • fiasco The picnic turned into a fiasco in the rain.
  • gondola A gondola carried us along the canal.
  • influenza Influenza is the full name of the flu.
  • maestro The maestro raised his baton, and the orchestra began.
  • minestrone Minestrone is a thick vegetable soup.
  • ravioli Ravioli are small pasta pockets with a filling.
  • soprano A soprano sings the highest notes in a choir.
  • stiletto A stiletto heel is tall and very thin.
  • vendetta The two families ended their long vendetta.

Final round 4: from Spanish 10

  • alligator An alligator lay still in the swamp.
  • armadillo An armadillo has a shell of bony plates.
  • bonanza The gold strike was a bonanza for the town.
  • cilantro Chop fresh cilantro for the salsa.
  • enchilada An enchilada is a rolled tortilla baked in sauce.
  • machete He cleared the trail with a machete.
  • mosquito A mosquito bit me on the ankle.
  • renegade The renegade left his army to join the enemy.
  • stampede Thunder started a stampede of cattle.
  • vanilla Vanilla flavoring comes from the pod of an orchid.

Final round 5: from German and Dutch 10

  • bratwurst We grilled bratwurst at the street fair.
  • cruise The ship left on a cruise to Alaska.
  • easel The painting rests on a wooden easel.
  • furlough The soldier came home on a two-week furlough.
  • gherkin A gherkin is a small pickled cucumber.
  • quartz Quartz is a hard mineral found in granite.
  • rucksack She carried a rucksack on her back.
  • schnauzer A schnauzer is a dog with a bushy beard.
  • snorkel Breathe through the snorkel while you swim.
  • waltz A waltz has three beats in each measure.

Final round 6: from around the world 10

  • bonsai Bonsai is the Japanese art of growing tiny trees.
  • geyser The geyser shot hot water into the air.
  • igloo An igloo is a house built of snow.
  • kookaburra An Australian kookaburra has a call like laughter.
  • origami Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper.
  • paprika Paprika is a red spice made from peppers.
  • safari On safari we saw lions and zebras.
  • sauna A sauna is a very hot, steamy room.
  • slalom In a slalom, skiers zigzag between poles.
  • tundra No trees grow on the frozen Arctic tundra.

How it works

This spelling bee vocabulary list has 180 words in three rounds (warm-up, school round, final round), six lists of 10 in each. Press Start round and the device acts as pronouncer: the word, a sentence, then the word again.

Read the full guide

How the three bee rounds are built

Warm-up lists are short words with one trap: a double letter (rabbit, traffic), ee or ea (fleece, bleach), a silent letter (knuckle, crumb), then compounds, animals and food. The school round adds sion and ssion endings (suspension, concussion) and class words: peninsula, numerator, tambourine. Those two rounds make an elementary spelling bee list; the final round is borrowed words.

Why the final round is sorted by language

A borrowed word keeps its home spelling, so its origin tells a speller which letters to expect. French gives ette and eur endings and ch said as sh: pirouette, raconteur, chagrin. Greek roots give ch said as k, ph, and y where you expect i: chaos, euphoria, xylophone. All 10 Italian words end in a vowel you can hear.

  • Before a retry, say the missed word the way it is spelled: min-es-tro-ne, hi-er-o-glyph-ic.
  • Ten words have a sound-alike, such as palette, quartz and cruise. Wait for the sentence before you type.
  • A bee was neighbors gathering for shared work, like a quilting bee. Spelling bee is known in print from 1850.

Questions and answers

What grade is this spelling bee list of words for?

No single grade. As our suggestion, the warm-up suits grades 2 to 4, the school round grades 4 to 6, and the final round strong spellers of any age. We copied no contest's list, so for a real contest study the organizers' list too.

How do I run a classroom spelling bee?

Pick a list, choose Word list and press Print: one page of 10 words with sentences for the pronouncer. Spellers spell aloud while a random name picker chooses who is next. Edit this list swaps in your own words.

Does the page listen to a speller's voice?

No. The page speaks and does not listen. Answers are typed, and marks come at the end, with each missed word beside what was typed. If the device has no usable voice, the page says so and a person reads the words instead.

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