Name Tracing Sheets

Word family worksheets

One page per word family, with its words on one line so the shared ending lines up: cat hat bat mat rat. Twenty short vowel families, from -at to -ut. Free, no sign-up.

Each line becomes its own page. Pick one family, all of them, or type your own words on a line.

Letters
Tracing style
Line size
Paper

In the print window pick your printer, or “Save as PDF” to keep a file. Set scale to 100%.

More optionsCapitals, lines, example, starting dots
On the sheet
Preview

How to make word family worksheets

  1. Pick a family, or all of them. All 20 families fills the box with one line per family, 20 pages in all. A single family button, such as -at or -ug, makes one page.
  2. Or type your own. Type a few words that share an ending on one line, such as cake bake lake rake. Each line becomes its own page.
  3. Pick the letters and size. The page opens at medium, which fits five three-letter words on a line. Large fits about four.
  4. Print or save as PDF. Download PNG saves one image per page.

What each page looks like

The first line shows the family's words in solid letters, with green starting dots. Stroke order numbers are off so five words stay easy to read; turn them on under More options. The lines below show the same words in dotted letters to trace. Because the words sit one after another, the child writes the same ending again and again with a new first letter: c-at, h-at, b-at. That is the point of a word family: change one sound, get a new word.

Under More options you can add empty lines at the end for writing the words without help, fade the tracing line by line, or switch the guide lines to gray.

The 20 word families

Every family behind the buttons above, grouped by short vowel. Each page shows the first five words of its family.

Short a: -at (cat, bat, hat, mat, rat, sat); -an (can, fan, man, pan, ran, van); -ap (cap, map, nap, tap, lap, gap); -ad (dad, sad, mad, bad, had, pad); -ag (bag, rag, tag, wag, nag); -am (ham, jam, ram, yam).

Short e: -en (hen, pen, ten, men, den); -et (net, pet, wet, jet, vet, get); -ed (bed, red, fed, led, wed).

Short i: -ig (pig, big, dig, wig, fig, jig); -in (pin, fin, win, bin, tin); -it (sit, hit, kit, bit, fit, pit); -ip (lip, hip, zip, dip, tip, sip).

Short o: -op (top, mop, hop, pop, cop); -ot (pot, hot, dot, not, cot, got); -og (dog, log, hog, jog, fog).

Short u: -ug (bug, hug, mug, rug, jug, tug); -un (sun, bun, run, fun); -ub (tub, rub, cub, sub); -ut (cut, nut, hut, but).

How to teach with word families

  • Say the ending first. Before tracing, read the ending alone: at. Then add each first sound: c, cat; h, hat.
  • One vowel at a time. Finish the short a families before moving to short e. The families below are grouped by vowel.
  • Make new words. After tracing, ask the child for another word in the family and write it on the empty line.
  • Mix families. Once two families are known, mix them on one line, such as cat can hat man, so the child has to look at the ending.

For one word per page sorted by short vowel, use the CVC words worksheets. For sight words that do not follow the patterns, use the sight word tracing worksheets.

Questions

What is a word family?

A group of words that share the same ending, such as cat, hat and bat in the -at family. Teachers also call the shared ending a rime or a chunk. Learning families helps children read and spell many words from one pattern.

Which word families should I start with?

Most kindergarten programs start with short a families such as -at, -an and -ap, then move to short i, o, u and e. The buttons follow that order by vowel.

What age are word family worksheets for?

Usually kindergarten and first grade, once a child knows most letter sounds and can trace or write single letters.

Can I make word families with long vowels, like -ake or -ight?

Yes. Type the words on one line, such as cake bake lake make, or night light right. Each line becomes its own page.

Is it free?

Yes. There is no account and no email. Everything is made in your browser.