CVC Words Worksheets

What are CVC words?

CVC stands for consonant-vowel-consonant. CVC words such as cat, pen, pig, dog and sun have three sounds and a short vowel, which makes them the first words most children learn to read by sounding out and blending. This generator makes five kinds of CVC worksheet for short a, e, i, o and u.

The five activities

• Word reading gives lists of CVC words with a circle to tick after reading each one.
• Picture matching asks children to draw a line from each picture to its word.
• Missing letters shows a picture and a word with one letter missing, at the beginning, middle or end.
• Word families builds words by adding letters in front of an ending such as -at or -ug.
• Sound boxes gives three boxes for each picture, so children can say the word slowly and write one sound in each box.

How to use the generator

1. Choose one or more short vowels. Starting with a single vowel, usually short a, keeps practice focused.
2. Pick an activity and the number of questions.
3. Press Generate new worksheet, then print or save as PDF. Add the answer key page if you need it.

Why short vowels come first

Short vowels are the most common vowel sounds in early reading books, and CVC words let children apply their letter sounds straight away. Practise one vowel until blending feels automatic, then mix two or more so children have to listen for the middle sound. The middle vowel is the hardest sound to hear, which is why the sound boxes and middle-letter questions are so useful.

Tips

Say each sound separately, then blend them smoothly: c-a-t, cat. Use a finger to tap each sound on the table. Keep word labels off in the picture activities once children can name the pictures, so they have to think about the sounds.