Word Families
Word families are groups of words that share the same ending (rime). Learning one word in a family helps you read and spell many others — like cat, bat, hat, mat, rat!
What You Need to Know
A word family is a group of words that share the same ending sound and spelling. They all rhyme with each other. When you know one word in a family, you can decode many others by changing just the beginning sound (the onset). For example, once you know -at, you can read cat, bat, hat, mat, sat, rat, fat, pat.
Key Concepts
-at family
cat, bat, hat, mat, rat
-an family
can, man, pan, ran, fan
-ig family
big, dig, fig, pig, wig
-op family
hop, mop, pop, top, cop
How to use a word family:
If you know cat, change the first letter:
Key Vocabulary
Word Family
A group of words that share the same ending and rhyme with each other, e.g. cat, bat, hat.
Rime
The ending part of a word that is shared in a word family, e.g. the -at in cat, bat, hat.
Onset
The beginning sound of a word — the part that changes in a word family, e.g. the c in cat, b in bat.
Rhyme
Words that sound the same at the end — word families all rhyme with each other!
Knowledge Check
Select the correct answer for each question. Click "Check Answer" to see if you are right.
Question 1
Which word belongs to the -an word family?
Question 2
Cat, bat, hat and mat all belong to the same word family. What is their shared ending?
Question 3
Which word does NOT belong to the -ig word family?
Question 4
Why are word families helpful for reading?
Key Concepts Summary
- ●A word family is a group of words sharing the same ending, e.g. cat, bat, hat (-at family).
- ●Words in a family rhyme with each other and share the same rime (ending).
- ●Change the onset (beginning) to make new words: c-at, b-at, h-at, r-at.
- ●Knowing word families helps you read and spell many new words quickly.