Short Vowels: 2nd Grade Reading Skills | Printable Skills Sheets - Free Printable

Let's solve the task step by step.

Task:

Circle the words that have a short vowel sound.

We are given a list of words, and we need to identify which ones contain a short vowel sound (i.e., the vowel is pronounced in its "short" form, like /æ/ in "cat", /ɛ/ in "bed", etc.).

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Step 1: Understand Short Vowel Sounds

The five short vowel sounds in English are:

- Short A – /æ/ as in *cat*, *hat*, *map*
- Short E – /ɛ/ as in *bed*, *pet*, *red*
- Short I – /ɪ/ as in *sit*, *bit*, *big*
- Short O – /ɒ/ or /ɑ/ as in *hot*, *dog*, *pot* (depending on dialect)
- Short U – /ʌ/ as in *cup*, *sun*, *ugly*

We will go through each word and determine if it has a short vowel.

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Step 2: Analyze Each Word

We'll go row by row.

#### Row 1:
- block → short o → ✔
- mitt → short i → ✔
- what → "a" is not short; "wh" makes it /wʌt/ → no short vowel → ✘
- nail → "ai" = long a → ✘
- nice → "i" is long → ✘

✔ block, mitt

#### Row 2:
- soap → "oa" = long o → ✘
- quit → "u" is short → /kwɪt/ → short i → ✔
- pack → short a → ✔
- truck → short u → ✔
- tow → "ow" = long o → ✘

✔ quit, pack, truck

#### Row 3:
- whale → "a" = long a → ✘
- mail → "ai" = long a → ✘
- rag → short a → ✔
- shock → short o → ✔
- drank → short a → ✔

✔ rag, shock, drank

#### Row 4:
- cluck → short u → ✔
- sail → "ai" = long a → ✘
- wash → "a" = short a → ✔
- go → long o → ✘
- than → "a" = short a → ✔

✔ cluck, wash, than

#### Row 5:
- if → short i → ✔
- mow → "ow" = long o → ✘
- that → short a → ✔
- sell → "e" = short e → ✔
- price → "i" = long i → ✘

✔ if, that, sell

#### Row 6:
- snow → "ow" = long o → ✘
- tuck → short u → ✔
- home → "o" = long o → ✘
- some → "o" = short o? Actually, "some" has a schwa /sʌm/ → short u → ✔
- track → short a → ✔

✔ tuck, some, track

#### Row 7:
- mat → short a → ✔
- rake → "a" = long a → ✘
- take → long a → ✘
- think → short i → ✔
- tell → short e → ✔

✔ mat, think, tell

#### Row 8:
- teach → "ea" = long e → ✘
- jump → short u → ✔
- bee → long e → ✘
- well → short e → ✔
- stuff → short u → ✔

✔ jump, well, stuff

#### Row 9:
- duck → short u → ✔
- bag → short a → ✔
- teeth → long e → ✘
- tack → short a → ✔
- save → "a" = long a → ✘

✔ duck, bag, tack

#### Row 10:
- smell → short e → ✔
- sack → short a → ✔
- need → long e → ✘
- name → long a → ✘
- bump → short u → ✔

✔ smell, sack, bump

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Final List of Words with Short Vowel Sounds:

From above, the words with short vowels are:

- block
- mitt
- quit
- pack
- truck
- rag
- shock
- drank
- cluck
- wash
- than
- if
- that
- sell
- tuck
- some
- track
- mat
- think
- tell
- jump
- well
- stuff
- duck
- bag
- tack
- smell
- sack
- bump

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Answer:

✔ Circle these words:

block, mitt, quit, pack, truck, rag, shock, drank, cluck, wash, than, if, that, sell, tuck, some, track, mat, think, tell, jump, well, stuff, duck, bag, tack, smell, sack, bump

> Note: Some words like "some" may be tricky — it's pronounced /sʌm/, so the vowel is short u, not long. So it counts.

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Summary:

You should circle all the words listed above. These are the ones with short vowel sounds.