Year 6 spelling words
266 words in 12 groups.
Year 6 continues with the harder patterns (word origins, silent letters, homophones, tricky endings) and the words children are most likely to misspell in their own writing.
This is our own word bank, informed by the Australian Curriculum v9.0 spelling progression, with some words from England's National Curriculum statutory lists. It is not an official list and is not endorsed by ACARA or any other education authority. Words are shown in British English spelling (colour, centre), alphabetically within each group; learners who choose American English see the American spelling automatically.
Tricky words 101 words
Common words that don't follow the usual sound-to-letter rules, so they have to be learned by sight and practice.
- accommodate
- acknowledge
- advertisement
- aggressive
- amateur
- ambassador
- ambiguous
- apparent
- appreciate
- architect
- argument
- atmosphere
- business
- cactus
- calculator
- catastrophe
- cemetery
- characteristic
- colleague
- committee
- communicate
- competition
- conscience
- conscientious
- conscious
- controversy
- convenience
- correspond
- correspondence
- criticise
- curiosity
- definitely
- desperate
- determined
- dilemma
- disastrous
- discipline
- efficient
- embarrass
- entrepreneur
- environment
- especially
- exaggerate
- explanation
- familiar
- fascinate
- forfeit
- frequently
- guarantee
- harass
- hierarchy
- hindrance
- humorous
- hygiene
- immediately
- indispensable
- individual
- interfere
- leisure
- maintenance
- millennium
- miniature
- nuisance
- occupy
- occurred
- parallel
- parliament
- particularly
- perseverance
- persuade
- phenomenon
- possession
- prejudice
- privilege
- profession
- professional
- pronunciation
- questionable
- questionnaire
- queue
- recognise
- recommend
- relevant
- reminiscent
- reservoir
- resilience
- restaurant
- rhyme
- rhythm
- schedule
- secretary
- separately
- silhouette
- spontaneous
- sufficient
- synonym
- technique
- temperature
- vaccination
- vacuum
- vocabulary
Homophones 32 words
Words that sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things, such as here and hear.
- affect
- allowed
- aloud
- board
- bored
- cereal
- coarse
- complement
- compliment
- council
- counsel
- course
- currant
- current
- desert
- dessert
- effect
- male
- peace
- piece
- practice
- practise
- principal
- principle
- serial
- stationary
- stationery
- waist
- waste
- whose
- your
Suffixes 25 words
Endings that change a word's meaning or job (-ing, -ed, -ful, -ly), including the rules for doubling a letter or dropping a silent e.
- activity
- alternative
- attentive
- community
- curious
- electrician
- electricity
- expression
- furious
- government
- impression
- informative
- journalist
- magician
- musician
- mysterious
- negative
- optimism
- politician
- popularity
- reversible
- serious
- successfully
- talkative
- victorious
Compound words 23 words
Two words joined into one, such as playground or sunflower. Spell each part, then put them together.
- altogether
- breakthrough
- crossfire
- downstream
- earthquake
- groundwork
- handwriting
- landslide
- meanwhile
- nevertheless
- outbreak
- overtake
- safeguard
- shipwreck
- somewhere
- thunderstorm
- undergo
- upbringing
- watertight
- whenever
- wherever
- withstand
- worthwhile
Prefixes 21 words
Beginnings that change meaning (un-, re-, dis-, mis-). Spelling stays the same, but knowing the prefix helps children break long words apart.
- antisocial
- decompose
- deflate
- depart
- descend
- illegal
- immature
- inactive
- interact
- international
- internet
- interrupt
- intersection
- interstate
- irregular
- irresponsible
- misunderstand
- overcrowded
- overreact
- underestimate
- unfamiliar
-ence and -ance endings 18 words
Word endings that sound almost identical but are spelled differently, such as difference and importance.
- appearance
- assistance
- brilliance
- confidence
- consequence
- dependent
- evidence
- existence
- experience
- importance
- independent
- insurance
- obedience
- performance
- permanent
- preference
- reference
- resistance
Word origins 16 words
Words borrowed from other languages. Knowing where a word came from often explains its unusual spelling.
- autobiography
- automobile
- biography
- biology
- democracy
- encyclopedia
- geology
- microphone
- microscope
- microwave
- photography
- physician
- psychology
- symphony
- technology
- thermometer
Silent letters 12 words
Letters we write but don't say, as in knock, wrist or island.
- campaign
- column
- condemn
- debt
- foreign
- muscle
- pneumonia
- receipt
- solemn
- subtle
- sword
- yacht
-ary, -ery and -ory endings 6 words
Endings that are easy to mix up, such as library, bakery and history.
- anniversary
- boundary
- category
- imaginary
- laboratory
- temporary
Contractions 6 words
Short forms where an apostrophe replaces missing letters, such as can't or they're.
- here's
- how's
- there's
- what's
- when's
- who's
ough and augh patterns 5 words
One of English's trickiest letter groups, pronounced many different ways (through, though, cough, caught).
- dough
- plough
- thorough
- thoroughly
- trough
Plurals 1 words
More than one: adding s or es, changing y to ies, and the irregular ones that change completely.
- geese
Year 6 spelling questions
How many Year 6 spelling words are there?
Our Year 6 word bank has 266 words, in 12 groups such as tricky words, homophones, suffixes.
Is this an official Year 6 spelling list?
No. The Australian Curriculum v9.0 describes the kinds of spelling knowledge children build each year but does not publish a word list. This is our own selection, informed by that progression. It also includes some words from England's National Curriculum statutory spelling lists (Years 3 to 6). It is not produced or endorsed by ACARA or any other education authority.
Are the words spelled the American way?
This page shows the library in British English (colour, centre). Learners who choose American English when they sign up are given the American spelling (color, center) and its example sentences automatically.
How can my child practise these Year 6 words?
Every Spell Kingdom game draws from this word bank for the year the learner has chosen, and words a child misses come back more often. On the Family plan a parent can also type in this week's school list.
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Make a free account in a minute. No email address is needed, and children only ever use a nickname.