This worksheet is designed to help children practice
short vowel sounds — specifically the short
E, I, and U sounds — by identifying patterns in word endings and matching them correctly.
Let’s go row by row and solve each section.
---
🔹 First Row: Words ending in “ug” and “up” — Short U sound
Words:
- bug
- mug
- hug
- rug
- jug
You are asked to match these words to three endings:
✔ ut
✔ ug
✔ up
Look at the words:
- All five words (
bug, mug, hug, rug, jug) end in
“ug” → So they all belong under
“ug”.
- But we also have two other boxes:
“ut” and
“up”. These are *not* endings of any of the given words — so
they should remain empty or unchecked.
>
✔ Answer for first row:
> - [ ] ut ← *no word ends in “ut”*
> - [✔️] ug ← *all 5 words end in “ug”*
> - [ ] up ← *no word ends in “up”*
*(Note: The image might be testing if kids notice that “ut” and “up” don’t match any of the words — only “ug” does.)*
---
🔹 Second Row: Words ending in “en” — Short E sound
Words:
- ten
- men
- pen
- den
- hen
Endings to choose from:
✔ et
✔ eg
✔ en
All five words end in
“en” → So they all belong under
“en”.
- “et” and “eg” are distractors — no words here end with those.
>
✔ Answer for second row:
> - [ ] et ← *no word ends in “et”*
> - [ ] eg ← *no word ends in “eg”*
> - [✔️] en ← *all 5 words end in “en”*
---
🔹 Third Row: Words ending in “ig” — Short I sound
Words:
- pig
- wig
- twig
- big
- fig
Endings to choose from:
✔ ig
✔ it
✔ in
Now let’s check:
-
pig, wig, big, fig → all end in
“ig”
-
twig → also ends in
“ig” (yes! “twi-g”)
So again — all 5 words end in
“ig”.
“it” and “in” are not endings of any of these words.
>
✔ Answer for third row:
> - [✔️] ig ← *all 5 words end in “ig”*
> - [ ] it ← *no word ends in “it”*
> - [ ] in ← *no word ends in “in”*
---
## 🎯 Final Answers Summary:
| Row | Ending "ut" | Ending "ug" | Ending "up" |
|-----|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| 1 |
✘ | ✔️ |
✘ |
| Row | Ending "et" | Ending "eg" | Ending "en" |
|-----|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| 2 |
✘ |
✘ | ✔️ |
| Row | Ending "ig" | Ending "it" | Ending "in" |
|-----|-------------|-------------|-------------|
| 3 | ✔️ |
✘ |
✘ |
---
## 💡 Teaching Tip:
This activity reinforces
phonics patterns — noticing that many words share common endings (like -ug, -en, -ig) and that those endings often represent consistent short vowel sounds:
-
“ug” = short
U (as in bug, mug)
-
“en” = short
E (as in ten, pen)
-
“ig” = short
I (as in pig, big)
It helps kids decode new words by recognizing familiar chunks!
---
✔ Completed Worksheet Answer Key:
- First row: Only
“ug” box checked.
- Second row: Only
“en” box checked.
- Third row: Only
“ig” box checked.
All other boxes remain unchecked.
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of free short vowel worksheet.
