Free Word Families Worksheets — Printable PDF
Free printable word families worksheets — -at, -an, -ig, -op, -un and more. Kindergarten and Grade 1. Phonics ready. No signup required.
Word families are the clever shortcut that early reading teachers love. Instead of learning 'cat', 'bat', 'hat', 'rat' and 'mat' as five separate words, a child learns the 'at' pattern once and unlocks all of them at the same time. Once the pattern is in their head, they can read 'chat', 'splat' and 'scat' without ever seeing those words before. It's the biggest single leap in early reading confidence.
The worksheets on this page cover the 37 most common word families used in Kindergarten and Grade 1 phonics programmes — the short vowel families (-at, -ap, -ag, -an, -ad, -am), the -et, -ig, -op, -un patterns, and the long vowel families that come later. Each sheet focuses on one family at a time with tracing, reading, and write-your-own activities. Pictures support early readers who need a visual anchor for each word.
Use these alongside our phonics and sight words worksheets for full early-reading coverage. Pair with the Word Spell game on screen and your child will be reading short CVC books within a few weeks of starting. Everything is free and classroom-ready with no signup.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What's a word family?+
A word family is a group of words that share the same ending sound and spelling pattern — like 'cat', 'hat', 'bat', 'mat'. They're sometimes called 'rimes' or 'phonograms' in teaching materials.
How many word families should a kindergartener know?+
Most kindergarten curricula target the 15 to 20 most common families (-at, -ap, -ag, -an, -ad, -et, -en, -ig, -ip, -it, -op, -ot, -og, -un, -ut). Grade 1 adds another 15 to 20.
When do kids learn word families?+
After single letter sounds but before full sight word reading — usually age 5 to 6 in the first half of Kindergarten or Reception.
Do you pair these with a reading game?+
Yes — our Word Spell game includes word family practice as one of its difficulty levels, and it's the perfect screen complement to these paper worksheets.