Spelling words · 2nd grade
2nd grade Spelling Words
8 lists covering vowel teams, bossy r and adding -ed and -ing. Every list plays as a game.
2nd grade spelling word lists
| List | Words | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Long a: ai and ay | rain, tail, paint, train, wait, play, day, say, stay, gray, away, mail | ay usually sits at the end (play); ai sits in the middle (rain). |
| Long e: ee and ea | tree, feet, green, sleep, keep, eat, read, team, beach, clean, dream, seat | Both say ee. Read them often; your eyes learn which one looks right. |
| Long o: oa and ow | boat, coat, road, soap, goat, snow, grow, show, slow, know, bowl, own | oa in the middle (boat), ow at the end (snow). |
| Long i: igh and y | night, light, right, high, sigh, bright, my, fly, try, cry, sky, why | igh is three letters for one sound. y at the end of a short word says i. |
| ar and or | car, star, park, farm, card, start, corn, fork, horse, short, storm, born | The r changes the vowel. Say 'car' and 'corn' slowly. |
| er, ir and ur | her, fern, after, bird, girl, first, shirt, turn, hurt, burn, nurse, purple | Three spellings, one sound. Group them: her, bird, turn. |
| Adding -ed and -ing | jumped, played, looked, hopped, stopped, running, sitting, making, riding, helping, wanted, asked | Short vowel + one consonant? Double it: hop → hopping. |
| Compound words | sunset, rainbow, football, bedroom, inside, outside, cupcake, snowman, playground, homework, birthday, something | Two small words glued together. Spell each half, then join. |
What 2nd grade spelling covers
Second grade spelling is about vowel teams (two vowels that make one sound, like ai and ee) and r-controlled vowels like ar and ir. Kids also learn the doubling rule for -ed and -ing.
How to learn 2nd grade spelling words
ay lives at the end of a word (play), ai lives in the middle (rain). The same goes for oa and ow. Position settles most choices.
When r follows a vowel it bosses the sound around: car, her, bird, turn. Sort words by their r team to see the pattern.
One syllable, one short vowel, one final consonant? Double it before -ing or -ed: hop → hopping, stop → stopped.
Play the 2nd grade spelling game
A spelling list sticks when kids pull each word out of memory again and again. The game does that sixty times in ten minutes, and nobody calls it homework.
Every word comes from the 2nd grade lists
Free to play · no signup · works on phones, tablets and computers
Quick quiz: which spelling is right?
2nd grade spelling FAQ
What age is 2nd grade spelling for?
Ages 7–8, usually 2nd grade (Year 3 in the UK).
How many spelling words should a 2nd grader learn a week?
Usually 8 to 12 words, often one pattern plus two or three heart words.
What are good 2nd grade spelling bee words?
Start with the hardest list above (Compound words), then move to the next grade's lists. Spelling bee success is mostly patterns plus the oddballs learned by heart.
Is the spelling game really free?
Yes. The whole game plays free in your browser, with no signup, no ads and no time limit. The Spellcove app is the paid version for iPhone and iPad. It adds every word read aloud, offline play and a parent progress view.
Take the cove with you
The Spellcove app has everything you can play here, plus the parts that need a real app: every word read aloud so kids can practice alone, offline play for car rides, a parent view of which words have stuck, and the full treasure collection.
Coming soon on theApp Store