Short Vowel Words for Kids

Help build your child’s foundational reading and spelling skills with these short vowel word lists.

What Are Short Vowels?

Short vowels are simple vowel sounds in words like cat, pen, sit, hot, and cup. These sounds typically occur when the vowel is in a closed syllable, or a syllable that ends with a consonant.

Unlike long vowels, which sound like the letter you’re saying, short vowels have unique sounds that are shorter and do not match the letter’s name.

Why Are Short Vowel Words Important?

Understanding and learning to recognize short vowel sounds is an important step in growing literacy and spelling skills, as it helps children decode unfamiliar words. Here are a few more reasons why it’s essential for children to study short vowel sounds.

• Easier to Learn: Short vowel words are often more predictable and straightforward for young readers, making them easier to decode.
• Most Common Vowel Sound: The short vowel sound tends to appear in text more frequently than other vowel sounds.
• Foundation for Reading: Mastering short vowels prepares kids for more complex phonics and spelling patterns.

Tips for Teaching Short Vowel Sounds

Here are a few key strategies to keep in mind when teaching children short vowel sounds.

• Listen for the short sound: Practice saying words and isolating the vowel sound. For example, in cat, focus on the short a sound (/ă/).
• Compare with long vowels: Use pairs like cap (short) and cape (long) to show the difference.
• Visual cues: Use word patterns like CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant), where short vowels are common.
• Practice with rhymes: Words like bat, hat, and mat highlight the short a sound (/ă/), making it easier for kids to identify.
• Focus on one vowel sound at a time: Teach short vowels individually to build mastery.
• Reinforce with repetition: Consistent practice helps strengthen learning.
• Read aloud for clarity: Encourage children to read aloud to develop phonetic awareness.
• Incorporate fun activities: Combine learning with games and creative exercises to keep kids engaged.

List of Short Vowel Words

Reviewing word lists with short vowel sounds can help children become more familiar with these sounds. To make learning easier, we recommend starting with word families, as this helps children identify and understand patterns.

Short A Words

Examples of short A words, grouped by word families:

• -at: cat, bat, hat, mat, rat
• -an: ran, fan, man, pan, tan
• -am: jam, ham, ram, yam

See our full list of short A words here.

Short E Words

Examples of short E words, organized by word families:

• -et: net, pet, get, set, jet
• -ed: red, bed, fed, led, wed
• -en: men, hen, pen, ten

See our full list of short E words here.

Short I Words

Examples of short I words, grouped by word families:

• -it: sit, fit, hit, kit, bit
• -in: pin, win, bin, fin, sin
• -ig: wig, dig, big, fig, pig

See our full list of short I words here.

Short O Words

Examples of short O words, organized by word families:

• -ot: hot, not, pot, dot, lot
• -op: pop, mop, hop, top, cop
• -og: dog, log, hog, fog

See our full list of short O words here.

Short U Words

Examples of short U words, organized by word families:

• -ug: mug, rug, hug, bug, tug
• -un: sun, fun, run, bun
• -ub: cub, rub, tub, sub

See our full list of short U words here.

Short Vowel CVC Printable Word List

Have learning at your fingertips with this list of short vowel words. You’ll find a list of CVC words featuring each short vowel sound. 

Note: For more comprehensive short vowel word lists, see the posts referenced above. 

Short A CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) Words:

Short E CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) Words:

Short I CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) Words:

Short O CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) Words:

Short U CVC (Consonant-Vowel-Consonant) Words:

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Activities for Teaching Short Vowel Words

ABCmouse provides a range of engaging activities to help children master short vowel words in fun and interactive ways. Here are some recommended activities:

Short Vowel Sounds Worksheets

These printable worksheets focus on practicing short vowel words with engaging exercises. Kids can trace, match, and write words, reinforcing their understanding of short vowels.

Short Vowel Sound Games

Vowel Activities for Kids

These activities present vowel-related learning through play-based activities, digital learning games, and catchy educational songs and videos.  

Short Vowel Paintings with Maggie

In this online game, children help an artist name her paintings using CVC words. It’s a creative way to practice identifying the short vowel sound and the words that use them.

Carnival of Fun: Long and Short A, E, I, O, and U

This game challenges children to identify whether the vowels in words are long or short. By distinguishing between the two, they sharpen their phonemic awareness skills and understanding of vowels.

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