252 Examples of CVC Words in English • 7ESL

Contents

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.

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.

Learn more:

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

Related:

About
Latest Posts

Liam Daniel

At 7ESL, we use advanced AI to help people learn English. Our tools and resources make it easier to speak and write well, supporting learners at every level.