252 Examples of CVC Words in English

Last updated on June 5, 2024 by Liam Daniel

What are CVC words? As you probably know, words in the English language are made up of vowels and consonants. Vowels are the letters a, e, i, o, and u (and, sometimes, y). They make “open” sounds, meaning that vowel sounds are made by moving the tongue to various places within the mouth, but without any parts of the lips or mouth coming into contact.

Consonants, which are all the other letters in the alphabet, are “closed”, in that their sounds are made by contact between two parts of the mouth, such as the tongue on the teeth, or pressing your lips together.

CVC Words

What Are CVC Words?

CVC words are three-letter words with a consonant-vowel-consonant pattern. Most CVC words use short vowel sounds, although there are a handful of exceptions. A short vowel sound is when a vowel does not “say its name”. Examples of words with short vowel sounds are kit, cut, and tap.

Learning CVC words is an important first step in the process of learning to read. It gives students the opportunity to practice phonemic awareness. This is the skill that allows a person to identify and separate the individual sounds within a word. This skill is at work in both constructing words from individual letter sounds, or phonemes, as well as breaking down a word into it’s individual phonemes. CVC words are helpful in building this skill because the reader only needs to be able to understand the sounds of single letters, not strings or combinations of letters.

Phoneme awareness is an auditory skill, not a visual skill, and is a good predictor of future reading difficulties (or lack thereof). Neurodivergent individuals (such as those on the autism spectrum or those with dyslexia) may have trouble with this skill, but it can still be successfully taught through practice and reinforcement.

List of CVC Words

CVC Words

What Are CCVC and CVCC Words?

CCVC words and CVCC words are the next step in the learning process. These words either start or end with two consonants together. These combinations of consonants are often referred to as “blends”. A strong foundation in CVC words is necessary for this next step in the learning process, where the student begins learning to recognize these blends of consonant sounds, as in the words trip, or path.

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List of CVC Words

Below, you will find a list of CVC words. Although all attempts have been made to make this list as thorough as possible, please do not consider it an exhaustive list.

Short a CVC Words

-ab -ad -ag -am -an -ap -at -ar
cab tad wag Sam pan sap pat bar
dab bad bag dam ban cap rat car
jab dad gag ham can gap sat far
lab had lag jam Dan lap vat jar
tab lad nag Pam fan map bat tar
nab pad sag ram man rap cat war
mad rag cam ran tap fat
rad tag fam tan nap hat
sad hag van yap mat

Short e CVC Words

-ed -eg -en -et others
bed beg  Ben bet web
wed leg den get gem
fed peg men jet hem
led keg pen let pep
red Meg  ten met yes
Ted neg hen net dew
zed Zen pet mew
Jed Ken set pew
Ned Yen vet
wet
yet
 het

Short i CVC Words

-ib -id -ig -im -in -ip -it -ix
bib bid  big dim bin dip bit mix
fib did dig him fin hip fit six
rib hid fig Kim pin nip hit fix
jib kid pig rim sin rip kit
sib lid rig Tim tin sip lit
rid wig Jim win tip pit
jig Vim kin zip sit
zig din lip wit
gin pip zit
yin

Short o CVC Words

-ob -og -op -ot -od -on -ox -ow others
cob cog cop cot God son box bow boy
gob dog hop dot rod ton fox cow soy
job fog mop hot pod won pox sow toy
lob jog pop lot bod con lox row mom
mob log top not cod Tom
rob hog bop pot mod
sob bog rot
Bob tot
got
jot

Short u CVC Words

-ub -ud -ug -um -un -ut others
cub bud bug gum bun but cup
hub dud dug hum fun cut pup
rub mud hug mum nun hut bus
sub cud jug sum run nut yup
tub lug bum sun put tux
nub mug rum gun rut
pub pug tum pun gut
dub rug yum jut
tug

CVC Words | Images

CVC Word List

CVC Words

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