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-ill word family list

The -ill word family is every word that ends in ill, such as bill, dill, fill. As in -ell, the double l makes one sound. It is one of the most common word families in early reading books.

This list has 19 -ill words in 3 groups. The first group is the easiest; the later groups add a blend, a digraph or a second syllable, so your child can keep going as the pattern gets easy.

Starter words

  • bill
  • dill
  • fill
  • hill
  • mill
  • pill
  • will

Words with blends and digraphs

  • chill
  • drill
  • grill
  • quill
  • skill
  • spill
  • still
  • thrill

Longer words

  • anthill
  • refill
  • uphill
  • windmill

How to use this list

  1. Use the longer words to show how compound words work: ant + hill, wind + mill.
  2. Read this silly sentence together: "Jill will spill the dill on the hill."
  3. Keep sessions short: a few minutes a day beats one long session a week.
  4. 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.
  5. 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 is the -ill word family?

A group of words that all end in the same letters and sound, -ill. Children read the ending as one chunk, so they only have to work out the sound at the start.

Is thrill too hard?

It starts with th (one sound) and then r, so it has four sounds: th-r-i-ll. Save it until the blend words before it are easy.

Should my child memorise these words?

No. The aim is to read the ending as a chunk and blend it with the first sound. If your child can read a word from the list they have never seen before, the pattern has clicked.

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