Spelling Bee Worksheets

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Made at homeroomtools.comList 1: ary, ery or oryWord boxWrite the missing letters. Then write the whole word.1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.Spelling: missing lettersobservatorysolitaryinventorydormitorymachinerycemeterystationeryvoluntarycategorylibrarylibrryvoluntrysolitrycmtrystationrymachinrycatgrydormitryinventryobservatry

10 words (List 1: ary, ery or ory), missing letters, on 1 page, Letter portrait.

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The spelling lists

List 1: ary, ery or ory 10

  • category An e in the middle, then ory. Catagory is the usual slip.
  • cemetery Three e's and no a: cem-e-ter-y.
  • dormitory An i in the middle, then ory: dor-mi-to-ry.
  • inventory The word invent, then ory.
  • library Two r's: li-brar-y. Libary drops the first one.
  • machinery The word machine, then ry.
  • observatory Observe drops its e and adds atory.
  • solitary Ends in ary: sol-i-tar-y.
  • stationery Stationery with an e is writing paper. Stationary with an a means standing still.
  • voluntary Ends in ary, not ery: vol-un-tar-y.

List 2: schwa in ar, er, or 10

  • burglar Ends in ar: bur-glar. Burgler is the usual slip.
  • calendar An e in the middle and ar at the end: cal-en-dar.
  • caterpillar Er in the middle, ar at the end, and two l's.
  • elevator Ends in or: el-e-va-tor.
  • emperor Er, then or: em-per-or.
  • escalator Two a's in the middle and or at the end.
  • grammar Ends in ar, not er. Two m's and two a's.
  • messenger Two s's, then enger. There is no a.
  • passenger Two s's, then enger, as in messenger.
  • vinegar Ends in ar: vin-e-gar.
Show all 150 words (130 more)

List 3: nce or nse 10

  • absence S in the middle, c at the end: ab-sence.
  • condense The word dense is inside: con, then dense.
  • evidence Evident turns into evidence: the t turns to ce.
  • expense Ends in se, like expensive.
  • immense Two m's, then ense.
  • intense The word tense is inside: in, then tense.
  • nonsense Non, then sense.
  • sentence S at the start, c at the end.
  • sequence Qu in the middle, ce at the end.
  • silence Silent turns into silence: the t turns to ce.

List 4: the sounds of ough 10

  • borough Here ough says o, as at the end of burrow.
  • bough Here ough says ow, as in cow.
  • fought Here ough says aw: Fought rhymes with taught.
  • sought Here ough says aw: Sought rhymes with taught.
  • thorough Here ough says o, as at the end of burrow.
  • though Here ough says o, as in go.
  • through Here ough says oo, as in blue.
  • tough Here ough says uff, as in stuff.
  • trough Here ough says off.
  • wrought Here ough says aw: Wrought rhymes with taught. The w is silent.

List 5: Latin plurals 10

  • algae One alga, many algae: a turns to ae.
  • alumni One alumnus, two alumni: us turns to i.
  • antennae An insect has two antennae. Two n's, then ae.
  • genera One genus, two genera. The us turns to era.
  • larvae One larva, two larvae: a turns to ae.
  • radii One radius, two radii: us turns to i, so there are two i's.
  • spectra One spectrum, two spectra: um turns to a.
  • stimuli One stimulus, two stimuli: us turns to i.
  • strata One stratum, two strata: um turns to a.
  • vertebrae One vertebra, two vertebrae: a turns to ae.

List 6: from Japanese 10

  • futon Fu, then ton. No double letters.
  • haiku Ai, then ku: hai-ku.
  • karaoke A, then o, in the middle: ka-ra-o-ke. Karioke is the usual slip.
  • karate Ends in e: ka-ra-te.
  • kimono Three beats, each a consonant and a vowel: ki-mo-no.
  • samurai Ends in ai: sa-mu-rai.
  • teriyaki Four beats and two i's: te-ri-ya-ki.
  • tsunami Starts with ts and ends in i: tsu-na-mi.
  • tycoon Y, then c and a double o: ty-coon.
  • wasabi A, a, i: wa-sa-bi.

List 7: from Persian 10

  • azure A z, then ure: az-ure.
  • bazaar One z, double a: ba-zaar.
  • caravan Three a's: car-a-van.
  • divan I, then a: di-van.
  • khaki An h after the first k, and i at the end.
  • kiosk I, then o: ki-osk. K at both ends.
  • seersucker Seer, then sucker: double e, then ck.
  • taffeta Two f's, one t: taf-fe-ta.
  • tulip Ends in ip: tu-lip.
  • turban Ends in an: tur-ban.

List 8: from Algonquian 10

  • caribou Ends in ou: car-i-bou.
  • chipmunk Ends in munk, not monk.
  • hickory Ck, then ory: hick-o-ry.
  • moose Double o and a silent e. One moose, two moose.
  • opossum Starts with o. One p, two s's.
  • pecan No k: the c says k. Pe-can.
  • persimmon One s, two m's: per-sim-mon.
  • skunk K twice: after the s and at the end.
  • wigwam Wig, then wam.
  • woodchuck Wood, then chuck.

List 9: Nordic lands 10

  • eider Starts with ei: ei-der.
  • krill Starts with k, ends in double l.
  • lemming Double m: lem-ming.
  • ombudsman Om, buds, man: the d comes before the s.
  • orienteering Orient, then eering: double e.
  • reindeer Rein, then deer. There is no rain in it.
  • saga Two a's, one g: sa-ga.
  • ski Three letters, and it ends in i.
  • skua U and a, said apart: sku-a.
  • troll Double l.

List 10: from Arabic 10

  • admiral I in the middle, al at the end: ad-mi-ral.
  • alcove Al, then cove.
  • almanac Three a's, and a c at the end with no k.
  • cotton Double t, then on.
  • magazine A in the middle, ine at the end: mag-a-zine.
  • mohair Mo, then hair.
  • nadir Ends in ir: na-dir.
  • sequin Qu in the middle: se-quin.
  • syrup Y for the first vowel, one r: syr-up.
  • tariff One r, two f's.

List 11: South America 10

  • alpaca Three a's, one c.
  • capybara A y in the middle: cap-y-ba-ra.
  • cashew Ends in ew: cash-ew.
  • condor Ends in or: con-dor.
  • jacaranda Four a's and no k: jac-a-ran-da.
  • jaguar U, then a, after the g: jag-uar.
  • petunia Ends in nia: pe-tu-ni-a.
  • quinoa Spelled qui-no-a.
  • tapioca I, then o, in the middle: tap-i-o-ca.
  • tapir Ends in ir. A taper, with er, is a thin candle.

List 12: from Australia 10

  • bilby Ends in y: bil-by.
  • billabong Double l: bil-la-bong.
  • dingo Ends in o: din-go.
  • kangaroo A after the g, double o at the end: kan-ga-roo.
  • koala O and a, said apart: ko-a-la.
  • quokka Qu, then double k.
  • quoll Qu, then o and a double l.
  • wallaby Double l, y at the end.
  • wallaroo Double l, then aroo: wal-la-roo.
  • wombat Wom, then bat.

List 13: from India 10

  • bangle Ends in le: ban-gle.
  • bungalow A in the middle, ow at the end: bun-ga-low.
  • catamaran Four a's: cat-a-ma-ran.
  • cheetah Double e, and an h at the end.
  • chutney Ends in ey: chut-ney.
  • cummerbund Two m's and no b in the middle: cum-mer-bund.
  • dinghy An h after the g. Dingy, with no h, means dull and grubby.
  • jungle Ends in le, not el.
  • mongoose Double o and a silent e.
  • shampoo Double o at the end.

List 14: from Nahuatl 10

  • avocado O after the v: av-o-ca-do. Avacado is the usual slip.
  • axolotl Ends in tl: ax-o-lotl.
  • cacao Ca, ca, o.
  • chipotle T before l: chi-pot-le.
  • chocolate An o hides in the middle: choc-o-late.
  • coyote Oy, then o, then te.
  • guacamole Gua at the start, and the last e is sounded.
  • jicama Starts with j: ji-ca-ma.
  • ocelot The c says s: oc-e-lot.
  • tamale The last e is sounded: ta-ma-le.

List 15: Irish and Gaelic 10

  • banshee Double e at the end.
  • brogue Ends in gue. The ue is silent.
  • cairn Ai, then rn. One beat.
  • galore One l, then ore: ga-lore.
  • loch Ends in ch, not ck.
  • ptarmigan A silent p at the start.
  • shamrock Sham, then rock: ck at the end.
  • slogan Ends in an: slo-gan.
  • sporran Double r, then an: spor-ran.
  • trousers Ou in the middle, then sers.

How this list was compiled: Our own choice and grouping of 150 English words into 15 lists of 10, with our own hints: four lists by spelling trap and eleven by where the word comes from. No word was taken from a competition's study list. Every word has an English entry at https://en.wiktionary.org/ (read on 2026-10-01), and words missing from the Unix word list were kept on that entry alone. A word stands in an origin list only where the etymology on its own Wiktionary entry names a language of that list without a "possibly" or "perhaps": Japanese; Persian; an Algonquian language (Powhatan, Ojibwe, Cree, Abenaki, Mi'kmaq, Massachusett or Miami-Illinois); Old Norse, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Icelandic or Faroese; Arabic; Old Tupi, Quechua or Aymara for South America; Dharug, Guugu Yimidhirr, Gamilaraay, Wiradjuri or Nyungar for Australia; Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil or Marathi for India; Classical Nahuatl; Irish or Scottish Gaelic. Words with a second spelling in use today were left out. Each Latin plural is listed as the plural on its singular's Wiktionary entry, and that entry gives a Latin origin. Sounds named in the hints (the last sound of the words in List 2, the n and s that end List 3, each sound of ough in List 4, the silent letters) were checked in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, http://www.speech.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/cmudict, and where it lacks the word in the pronunciation line of the Wiktionary entry. Licence: own work

How it works

These spelling bee worksheets print your list, or one of ours, with the hard letters left out. Four of our lists drill a trap, such as ary, ery or ory. The rest group words by the language they came from.

Read the full guide

Print your own bee list

Type the list sent home for the bee in Your spelling words, up to 20 words, one to a line. It replaces ours. Press Print worksheet. The sheet leaves out about a third of each typed word's letters.

Or take one of our lists

Open More options and pick a Word list. Lists 1 to 4 are traps: ary, ery or ory, the weak last sound of calendar and elevator, nce or nse, the sounds of ough. List 5 is Latin plurals. From List 6 on, each list is one source: Japanese, Persian, Arabic, Nahuatl and more. What goes on the sheet swaps Missing letters for Unscramble, ABC order or Word shapes.

  • Sort by list mixes words from the list on show and the two after it: from List 6, Japanese, Persian and Algonquian.
  • Every word has a hint under the tool: ptarmigan starts with a silent p, and cemetery has three e's and no a.

Questions and answers

What words are in a spelling bee?

Each bee sets its own list, so start with the one sent home and type it in the box. The lists here are our own choice, not any contest's, and run from cotton and skunk up to ptarmigan and axolotl.

How does a word's language of origin help you spell it?

It tells you which spelling habits to expect. Most of the Japanese words on List 6 end in a vowel: tsunami, karate, kimono. Axolotl keeps the tl of the Nahuatl word. Tulip and turban both come from one Persian word, dulband.

Do the spelling bee worksheets come with an answer key?

Yes. Open More options and tick Add an answer key as the last page. Missing letters, Word shapes, Unscramble, ABC order and Sort by list print a key. Trace and write and Write a sentence have nothing to mark.

Can I save a spelling bee worksheet as a PDF?

Press Print worksheet and choose Save as PDF in your browser's print window. The file holds one list, the one on screen.

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