Free printable · CVC words

Short o CVC words

Short o is the sound in the middle of "dog" and "hot". In most American accents it sounds like the "ah" you say at the doctor.

This page has 29 short o CVC words in 5 word families. Every word follows the same consonant, vowel, consonant pattern.

-ot words

  • cot
  • dot
  • got
  • hot
  • jot
  • lot
  • not
  • pot
  • rot

-op words

  • cop
  • hop
  • mop
  • pop
  • top

-og words

  • bog
  • dog
  • fog
  • hog
  • jog
  • log

-ob words

  • cob
  • job
  • mob
  • rob
  • sob

-od words

  • cod
  • nod
  • pod
  • rod

How to use this list

  1. Turn a column into a game: you read a word aloud, your child points to it, then they read one for you to find.
  2. Keep sessions short: a few minutes a day beats one long session a week.
  3. Ask your child to say each sound and then blend them into the word. If they guess from the first letter, cover the word and go sound by sound again.
  4. Print the flashcards, mix them up, and read them out of order once the list feels easy, so your child is reading the word and not remembering the list.

Frequently asked questions

What sound does short o make?

Short o says /o/ as in octopus. In dog, hot and top it is the middle sound.

Why are box and fox not on the list?

The x at the end makes two sounds, /ks/, so box has four sounds, not three. They are good words to try once three-sound words are easy.

Why are cow and toy not on the list?

When w or y comes after the o, the vowel makes a different sound. These pages only use words where the o says its short sound.

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