Which Spelling Is Right?

About this worksheet

Sentences with three spellings to choose from, like bridge, brige and bridj.

What kids practice

Third graders learn that English spelling follows patterns more often than it seems. When they add an ending like -ed or -ing, the base word sometimes changes: hope becomes hoping, sit becomes sitting and cry becomes cried. Some sounds also have two spellings, and the right one depends on where the sound is in the word, like ck right after a short vowel (duck) but k after a consonant (milk). These sheets practice both kinds of rules.

Watch for

• Keeping the silent e, like hopeing or makeing.
• Forgetting to double, like runing or stoped.
• Adding -s to words that end in y, like babys or puppys.
• Using ck after a consonant or two vowels, like milck or boock.

It's free to print, with Fewer, Standard or More on the page and an answer key. See the full spelling patterns guide for 3rd grade.