Words TowerTap a word to hear it. The voices are AI-generated recordings that ship with the game — nothing is sent anywhere when you play them.
Week 1er, ir and ur
Make worksheets from this listPlay in the gameShare with a class
Week 2oi, oy, ou and ow
Make worksheets from this listPlay in the gameShare with a class
Week 3Soft c and soft g
Make worksheets from this listPlay in the gameShare with a class
Week 4Compound words
Make worksheets from this listPlay in the gameShare with a class
Week 5Endings -le and -y
Make worksheets from this listPlay in the gameShare with a class
Week 6Homophones
Make worksheets from this listPlay in the gameShare with a class
3rd grade spelling words — six weeks of ten. Printed from https://vocabularygames.org/spelling-practice/3rd-grade-spelling-words/
About these lists
Third grade asks a child to choose between spellings that sound the same. “Her”, “bird” and “turn” share one sound and three spellings; “there” and “their” share a sound and nothing else. The lists put the choices side by side so the difference is seen, not guessed.
Two weeks build longer words from known pieces: compound words such as “weekend” and “football”, and endings such as -le and -y.
What trips children up in grade 3
- er, ir and ur sound the same, so each word has to be learned by sight: “girl”, “turn”, “her”.
- c says s and g says j before e, i and y: “city”, “page”, “large”. Before other letters they keep their hard sound.
- Homophones are a meaning test: write each one in a short sentence rather than alone.
- In compound words both halves keep their spelling, even where a letter seems doubled, as in “backpack”.
A week with one list
Read the week’s words and ask which other words your child knows with the same sound.
For the homophones week, make pairs of sentences: “I can hear you” and “Come over here”.
Print the worksheets, then play the list in the game until every word is green.
Worksheets and the game
Under week 1, “Make worksheets from this list” opens the worksheet generator with her, bird, girl and the other 7 words of “er, ir and ur” filled in, ready to print for grade 3: each word read, traced and written four times, then a home test, with a QR code in the corner that opens the same list in Words Tower. “Play in the game” starts a tower from the same week at once, the grade 3 words said aloud at the doors; nothing to install, no ads, and progress stays on your device.
Questions
What do third graders learn in spelling?
Vowel sounds with several spellings (er, ir, ur; oi, oy; ou, ow), soft c and g, compound words, common endings and homophones. Many schools also start prefixes and suffixes, which are on our 4th grade page.
How do I help with homophones?
Give each word a picture or a sentence. “Their” belongs to someone, “there” is a place, “here” is where you are and you “hear” with your ear.
Are the words too easy for my child?
Try the 4th grade lists. The weeks are independent, so you can mix them freely.
Is it free?
Yes. The lists, the recordings, the worksheets and the game are free, with no ads and no sign-up; progress stays in the browser on your own device.
Our school sends its own list. Can we use that instead?
Yes. Type it into the worksheet generator to print it, or paste it into the game under Test prep and set the test date. These lists are for the weeks when nothing comes home, or for extra practice.
Other grades
Before this: 2nd grade spelling words. Next: 4th grade spelling words. How the week before a spelling test works with the game: spelling test prep.