Spelling Bee › Word lists › 4th grade
Spelling bee words for 4th graders
218 spelling bee words for 4th graders: silent letters, ie and ei, tion and sion, able and ible, and ph. Easiest first.
Ough and augh
The letters ough and augh can make several sounds, so learn each word by sight.
- thought
- bought
- brought
- fought
- ought
- sought
- caught
- taught
- daughter
- naughty
- through“The train went through the tunnel.”
- though
Silent k and w
In kn the k is silent, and in wr the w is silent.
- knee
- knife
- knock
- knot
- knight
- wrong
- wrist
- wrap
- wreck
- wren
Silent b and g
In mb the b is silent, and in gn the g is silent.
- lamb
- thumb
- climb
- comb
- crumb
- limb
- plumber
- sign
- design
- gnat
- gnaw
- reign
Silent t
In words like listen and castle, the t is silent.
- listen
- castle
- whistle
- fasten
- often
- soften
- glistenshine because something is wet“Dewdrops glisten on the grass.”
- hustle
- wrestle
- thistle
- rustle
- moisten
Ei and eigh
The letters ei and eigh often say the long a sound, as in vein and eight.
- weigh
- weight
- freight
- neighbor
- vein
- rein
- beige
- veil
- eighty
- eighteen
- neigh
I before e
Write i before e, except after c, when the sound is long e.
- believe
- field
- piece“May I have a piece of cake?”
- chief
- shield
- thief
- niece
- brief
- yield
- receive
- ceiling
- receipt
Suffix tion
The ending that sounds like shun is most often spelled tion.
- action
- nation
- motion
- station
- lotion
- fiction
- caution
- section
- fraction
- question
- vacation
- addition
Suffix sion
Some words end in sion, which can sound like zhun or shun.
- vision
- decision
- explosion
- division
- confusion
- tension
- mission
- permission
- discussion
- expression
- collision
- television
Prefixes pre and mis
The prefix pre means before, and mis means wrongly.
- preview
- preheat
- prepay
- preschool
- pretest
- preset
- misread
- misspell
- mistake
- misplace
- misuse
- mislead
Suffixes able and ible
The suffixes able and ible mean can be, and a whole word before the suffix usually takes able.
- readable
- washable
- breakable
- comfortable
- enjoyable
- valuable
- possible
- visible
- terrible
- flexibleable to bend without breaking“A flexible straw bends easily.”
- sensible
- edible
Homophones, set three
Homophones sound the same, so use the meaning to pick the spelling.
- weather“The weather is sunny and warm.”
- whether“I don't know whether it will rain.”
- break“Be careful not to break the glass.”
- brake“Press the brake to stop the bike.”
- pair“I need a pair of socks.”
- pear“A pear is a sweet, juicy fruit.”
- plane“The plane flew over the clouds.”
- plain“I like plain toast with butter.”
- threw“He threw the ball to his dog.”
- peace“The forest was full of peace and quiet.”
Suffix ous
The suffix ous means full of, as in joyous.
- famous
- joyous
- generoushappy to share and give“The generous baker gave away free bread.”
- dangerous
- delicious
- various
- previous
- serious
- mysteriousstrange and hard to explain“A mysterious map appeared in the attic.”
Suffix ure
The ending ure often sounds like cher or zher, as in picture and treasure.
- picture
- nature
- future
- creature
- adventure
- capture
- furniture
- treasure
- measure
- pleasure
- mixture
- texture
Ph and gh for f
The f sound can be spelled ph, or gh at the end of some words.
- phone
- photo
- graph
- alphabet
- dolphin
- elephant
- trophy
- phrase
- laugh
- cough
- rough
- enough
Qu
The letter q is almost always followed by u, and together they say kw.
- quiet
- quick
- quilt
- queen
- quarter
- equal
- square
- quote
- liquid
- request
Words often misspelled
Some words do not follow the rules, so say each part slowly as you spell it.
- friend
- special
- favorite
- library
- probably
- different
- surprise
- until
- beginning
- beautiful
- already
Book words
Words a reader meets in books, each with what it means and a sentence.
- immenseextremely large“An immense cloud covered the whole valley.”
- scamperrun with light, quick steps“Squirrels scamper up the oak tree.”
- dartmove suddenly and quickly“Minnows dart between the rocks.”
- plummetfall straight down very fast“The ball plummeted from the roof.”
- shimmershine with a soft, wavy light“The lake shimmers in the moonlight.”
- radiantshining bright and full of joy“Her radiant smile lit up the room.”
- murkydark and cloudy, hard to see through“We couldn't see fish in the murky pond.”
- sluggishmoving slowly, without energy“I felt sluggish after the big lunch.”
- briskquick and full of energy“We took a brisk walk in the cool air.”
- agileable to move quickly and easily“The agile cat leapt onto the shelf.”
- durableable to last a long time“These durable boots lasted three winters.”
- flimsythin and easily broken“The flimsy umbrella flipped inside out.”
- cautiouscareful to stay out of danger“The cautious kitten sniffed the new toy first.”
- stubbornrefusing to change your mind“The stubborn mule would not budge.”
- jollyhappy and full of fun“The jolly giant laughed and danced.”
- peculiarstrange or unusual“A peculiar purple frog sat on my porch.”
- ordinaryplain and not special“It was an ordinary day until the parade came.”
- rarenot found or seen very often“A white tiger is very rare.”
- abundantmore than enough, plenty“Apples were abundant in the fall orchard.”
- scarcehard to find because there is little“Water was scarce in the dry desert.”
- vasthuge and wide-spreading“The vast ocean stretched to the sky.”
- suddenhappening quickly without warning“A sudden rain shower soaked the picnic.”
- transformchange completely into something else“A caterpillar transforms into a butterfly.”
- expandget bigger by spreading out“The balloon expands as I blow into it.”
- dissolvemix into a liquid and disappear“Sugar dissolves in hot tea.”
- sprintrun as fast as you can“We sprinted to the finish line.”
- devoureat up hungrily and quickly“The hungry rabbit devoured a whole row of lettuce.”
- transparentclear enough to see through“The window glass is transparent.”
- invisiblenot able to be seen“The wind is invisible, but we can feel it.”
- fragranthaving a sweet, nice smell“The fragrant roses filled the garden.”
- soothemake calm or less sore“Mom's song soothed the crying baby.”
- hastydone too quickly, without care“My hasty drawing was messy.”
- densepacked closely together“The dense forest blocked the sunlight.”
- shrillhigh-pitched and loud“The whistle made a shrill sound.”
- muffledmade quieter and hard to hear clearly“We heard muffled voices through the wall.”
- sparsethinly spread out, not crowded“Trees are sparse on the windy hill.”
- clutteredmessy and full of things“My cluttered desk had no room for my book.”