Multisyllable Words: by Vowel Sound
OnTrack Reading Phonics Program
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Welcome to the OnTrack Reading Multisyllable Word Lists.
Each multisyllabic word list you will find below focuses on one of the nineteen vowel sounds found in English words. For example, the /ow/ sound list has 2 and 3 syllable words in which the /ow/ sound is spelled either "ow" or "ou."
By the way, if you like what you find here, the OnTrack Reading Comprehensive Word Lists book shown below contains all of the lists on these three word list pages in one convenient publication.
Comprehensive Word Lists
Group 1: The First Vowel Sounds Spelled in Basic Code Only
The multisyllable words on these lists contain only the /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/ sounds spelled with the letters a, e, i, o, and u, respectively. They contain no /ow/ sounds, no /er/ sounds, etc., so can be useful for working on multisyllable words without having to worry about advanced code vowel spellings. If a word contains more than one basic code vowel spelling, it will appear on the list for the highest letter in the alphabet. For example, the word mathematics has /a/, /e/, and /i/ vowel sounds and will appear only on the /i/ list.
Group 2: The Second Vowel Sounds Organized by Spelling
- AE (Mae) Sound Word List
- EE (see) Sound Word List
- IE (tie) Sound Word List
- OE (toe) Sound Word List
- UE (cue) Sound Word List
Group 3: The Ar, Or, Er, and Err Sounds Organized by Spelling
- AR (car) Sound Word List
- OR (for) Sound Word List
- ER (her) Sound Word List
- ERR (merry) Sound Word List
Group 4: The Remaining Vowel Sounds Organized by Spelling
- OW (cow) Sound Word List
- OO (zoo) Sound Word List
- OUL (would) Sound Word List
- OY (toy) Sound Word List
- AW (saw) Sound Word List
Group 5: Basic Code Vowel Sounds - Alternative Spellings
A word list in this group will contain all multisyllable words in the database where basic code vowel sounds are not spelled in basic code. For example, the U (touch) list will have all words in which the digraph ou represents the /u/ sound. Note that the schwa sound in many words is converted to a precise pronunciation, so a word like son is included on the O(hot) list.