The Practice Library · Phonics
Silent Letter Worksheets
A silent letter is written but not said: the k in knee, the w in write, the b in lamb. These pages take the silent-letter spellings one at a time, for Grades 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, in the order a child meets them.
Each set works on one spelling. The first three pages of every set are free PDFs, open to everyone. The rest of each set, and an answer key for every page, are included with All Access.
1st Grade silent letter worksheets
- Silent Letters: kn Free PDF In the kn spelling, the k is silent and only the n is heard: knee, knot, knife, know.
- Silent Letters: wr Free PDF In the wr spelling, the w is silent: write, wrap, wrist, wrong.
2nd Grade silent letter worksheets
- Silent Letters: mb Free PDF In the mb spelling, the b at the end of a word is silent: lamb, comb, thumb, climb, crumb, numb. In Grade 2 mb is sorted beside two other silent pairs, wr and kn, with words such as crumb, limb, wrong and wrist, in sorts, word chains and word hunts.
- Silent Letters kn and wr Free PDF In kn and wr the first letter is silent: knee, knife and kneel begin with the n sound; wrist, wrap and wrong begin with the r sound.
3rd Grade silent letter worksheets
- Silent Letters: mb Free PDF In the mb spelling, the b at the end of a word is silent: lamb, comb, thumb, climb, crumb, numb. In Grade 3 mb is set beside gn and wr in longer words such as designed and foreign; the child sorts them, fills in the missing silent letters, and reads them on two fluency pages.
- Silent Letters: gn Free PDF In the gn spelling the g is silent and only the n is heard, both at the front of a word (gnat, gnaw, gnome) and at the end (sign, design, align).
4th Grade silent letter worksheets
- Silent Letters: bt Free PDF In a small set of words the b before t is silent: doubt, doubtful, debt, debtor, subtle.
- Silent Letters: mn Free PDF When mn falls at the end of a word, the n is silent: autumn, column, hymn, solemn, condemn.
5th Grade silent letter worksheets
- Silent Letters Review Free PDF This review mixes the silent-letter spellings the child has already met, with no heading to say which is coming: kn and wr at the front of a word, mb and mn at the end, and gn at either end.
- Silent Letters: sc Free PDF When sc comes before e, i, or y, the c goes quiet and only the s is heard: scene, scent, science, ascend, obscene.
How to use these pages
- Begin where the spelling is new to your child, whatever the grade on the page: kn and wr come first, mb and gn next, then bt, mn and sc.
- Have the child say the word and find the letter that made no sound. A silent letter is a spelling to remember, not a sound to say.
- Keep the look-alikes side by side: lamb beside number, autumn beside gymnast. Where the letters sit decides whether both are heard.
Practice pages support a program; they are not the lesson. These sheets reinforce Phonics, Decoding, and Early Fluency, the complete K–5 reading curriculum from Faith Readers. See every program →