Spelling Bee › Word lists › 2nd grade
Spelling bee words for 2nd graders
219 spelling bee words for 2nd graders: vowel teams, bossy r, ed and ing, and the soft c and g. Easiest first.
Long a with ai and ay
Use ai inside a word and ay at the end for the long a sound.
- rain
- train
- paint
- wait
- tail
- mail“A letter came in the mail.”
- day
- play
- stay
- gray
- today
- away
Long e with ee and ea
The long e sound is often spelled ee or ea.
- wheel
- teeth
- read
- team
- beach
- clean
- dream
- leaf
- eat
- people
Long o with oa and ow
The long o sound is often spelled oa inside a word or ow at the end.
- boat
- coat
- road
- soap
- goat
- toast
- snow
- grow
- show
- slow
- yellow
- window
Long i with igh and y
The long i sound can be spelled igh, or y at the end of a short word.
- night
- light
- right“Raise your right hand.”
- high
- bright
- sigh
- my
- fly
- try
- sky
- cry
- shy
Bossy r: ar
When r comes after a, the a says ar, as in car.
- car
- star
- farm
- park
- yard
- barn
- shark
- start
- card
- dark
- hard
- smart
Bossy r: or
When r comes after o, the o says or, as in corn.
- corn
- fork
- horse
- storm
- short
- sport
- born
- north
- porch
- torn
- horn
- morning
Bossy r: er, ir and ur
The letters er, ir and ur all make the same sound, as in her, bird and turn.
- her
- fern
- verb
- bird
- girl
- first
- shirt
- turn
- burn
- hurt
- nurse
- purple
Oo two ways
The letters oo can sound like moon or like book.
- moon
- food
- spoon
- zoo
- room
- pool
- book
- look
- cook
- foot
- good
- wood
- could
Ou and ow
The letters ou and ow can both say ow, as in out and cow.
- out
- loud
- house
- cloud
- mouth
- round
- cow
- now
- town
- down
- brown
- owl
Oi and oy
Use oi inside a word and oy at the end, as in coin and boy.
- coin
- oil
- join
- point
- soil
- noise
- boy
- toy
- joy
- enjoy
- voice
- royal
Adding ed
Add ed to show something already happened.
- jumped
- played
- looked
- wanted
- helped
- rained
- called
- filled
- kicked
- picked
- rested
- landed
Adding ing
Add ing to show something is happening now.
- jumping
- playing
- reading
- singing
- eating
- looking
- helping
- sleeping
- walking
- painting
- drawing
- resting
Double the last letter
When a short word ends in one vowel and one consonant, double the consonant before ed or ing.
- running
- sitting
- hopping
- stopped
- clapped
- swimming
- shopping
- getting
- planned
- hugged
- digging
- grabbed
Drop the e, add ing
When a word ends in silent e, drop the e before you add ing.
- making
- baking
- riding
- hiding
- smiling
- hoping
- skating
- sliding
- writing
- taking
- waving
- shining
Soft c and soft g
When c or g comes before e, i or y, it often makes its soft sound, as in city and gem.
- city
- face
- nice
- race
- ice
- cent
- page
- cage
- gem
- giant
- large
- stage
Book words
Words a reader meets in books, each with what it means and a sentence.
- enormousvery, very big“The enormous whale made a splashy wave.”
- tinyvery, very small“A tiny ant carried a crumb all the way home.”
- scurryrun with quick little steps“The mice scurry under the rug.”
- wobblerock from side to side“The jelly wobbles on the plate.”
- sparkleshine with little flashes of light“The snow sparkles in the morning sun.”
- gigglelaugh in a small, silly way“The baby giggles at the puppy.”
- shivershake because you are cold“We shiver at the bus stop in winter.”
- munchchew with big, noisy bites“The rabbit munches a crunchy carrot.”
- sniffsmell with short, quick breaths“The puppy sniffs every flower in the park.”
- peektake a quick little look“I peek under the bed for my lost sock.”
- grumpycross and in a bad mood“The grumpy bear wants his nap right now.”
- cozywarm, soft, and comfy“The cat is cozy in her basket.”
- fetchgo and get something and bring it back“My dog loves to fetch sticks.”
- gatherbring things together into one place“We gather leaves into a big pile.”
- tumblefall and roll over“The puppy tumbles down the grassy hill.”
- squeezepress hard from both sides“Squeeze the orange into the cup.”
- plumpnicely round and full“The plump berries are ready to pick.”
- fuzzycovered in soft little hairs“A fuzzy caterpillar crawls on my hand.”
- soggyvery wet and soft“My cereal got soggy in the milk.”
- chillya little bit cold“It is chilly, so wear a hat.”
- swiftvery fast“The swift fox raced across the field.”
- stompstep down hard and loud“The giant stomps through the puddles.”
- tiptoewalk quietly on your toes“We tiptoe past the sleeping baby.”
- whisperspeak very, very softly“Whisper so you don't wake the kitten.”
- glowgive off a soft, steady light“Fireflies glow in the dark garden.”
- slipperyso smooth or wet that things slide“The ice on the pond is slippery.”
- stickyable to stick to things“Honey made my fingers sticky.”
- curiouswanting to know or learn about things“The curious kitten looked inside the box.”
- cheerfulhappy and bright“Her cheerful song made us smile.”
- cleverquick to learn and think of ideas“The clever crow dropped stones in the jar.”
- bouncespring back up after hitting something“The ball bounces higher and higher.”
- driftmove slowly, carried by air or water“Leaves drift down the lazy river.”
- floatstay on top of water or in the air“The duck floats on the pond.”
- gobbleeat fast and in big gulps“The goats gobble up the grass.”
- wigglemove with quick, small twists“The worm wiggles in the dirt.”
- snoozetake a short, light sleep“Grandpa snoozes in his big chair.”
- bumpyfull of bumps, not smooth“The bumpy road made the wagon rattle.”
- shinybright because light bounces off it“She polished the shiny red apple.”
- stretchreach out to make yourself longer“Cats stretch after a long nap.”
- dizzyfeeling like everything is spinning“Spinning in circles makes me dizzy.”