Printable Commonly Misspelled Words Worksheets
Printable commonly misspelled words worksheets for 2nd through 5th grade, with an answer key on every sheet. The sets below cover 2 different skills, so you can start where your child actually is. Available as fill in the blank.
Targeted Practice by Skill
About Commonly Misspelled Words
What this skill is
Commonly misspelled words are high-frequency terms containing irregular phonics patterns, silent letters, or confusing vowel combinations that frequently trigger spelling errors (e.g., friend, because, answer, separate, restaurant). Solvers learn mnemonic tricks, visual syllable chunking, and proofreading strategies to eliminate persistent spelling slips in student writing during spelling, essay writing, dictation tasks, writing workshops, proofreading drills, spelling reviews, and editing workshops.
When children learn it
Primary demon words (said, have, like, friend, because) are taught in 2nd grade. Upper elementary demon words (separate, favorite, government, chocolate) are targeted across 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade spelling and proofreading units, dictations, essay writing, sentence composition, and editing lessons.
Common Mistakes
- Reversing tricky vowel pairs, incorrectly writing 'freind' for friend or 'peice' for piece on spelling tests.
- Phonetic spelling of irregular sight words, writing 'sed' for said or 'bicos' for because on practice sheets.
- Omitting silent middle letters in long words, writing 'sep-rate' for separate or 'gov-ment' for government.