Phonics word list

Ee words

In short

Ee is a vowel team that spells long e, /ē/, as in feet, tree and green. It is the most reliable long e spelling: ee nearly always says /ē/. Our checked list has 410 words where ee says /ē/.

At a glance

Words in our list: 410
By syllables: one syllable: 179 · two syllables: 192 · three or more syllables: 39
Taught in: Lesson 85 in the sequence

Ee words, most common first

Spelling units show how each word breaks into the letters that spell one sound; a_e is a vowel and silent e working together. Readable after is the first lesson where a student can sound out the whole word.

One syllable

The 60 most common of 179 words. 119 more are in our list.

One syllable
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
see	s·ee	1	Lesson 85
deep	d·ee·p	1	Lesson 85
feel	f·ee·l	1	Lesson 85
feet	f·ee·t	1	Lesson 85
free	f·r·ee	1	Lesson 85
keen	k·ee·n	1	Lesson 85
keep	k·ee·p	1	Lesson 85
meet	m·ee·t	1	Lesson 85
need	n·ee·d	1	Lesson 85
seek	s·ee·k	1	Lesson 85
seem	s·ee·m	1	Lesson 85
seen	s·ee·n	1	Lesson 85
sees	s·ee·s	1	Lesson 85
tree	t·r·ee	1	Lesson 85
week	w·ee·k	1	Lesson 85
deems	d·ee·m·s	1	Lesson 85
feeds	f·ee·d·s	1	Lesson 85
feels	f·ee·l·s	1	Lesson 85
green	g·r·ee·n	1	Lesson 85
keeps	k·ee·p·s	1	Lesson 85
meets	m·ee·t·s	1	Lesson 85
needs	n·ee·d·s	1	Lesson 85
seeks	s·ee·k·s	1	Lesson 85
seems	s·ee·m·s	1	Lesson 85
sheet	sh·ee·t	1	Lesson 85
sleep	s·l·ee·p	1	Lesson 85
speed	s·p·ee·d	1	Lesson 85
teeth	t·ee·th	1	Lesson 85
three	th·r·ee	1	Lesson 85
trees	t·r·ee·s	1	Lesson 85
weeks	w·ee·k·s	1	Lesson 85
wheel	wh·ee·l	1	Lesson 85
deemed	d·ee·m·ed	1	Lesson 85
screen	s·c·r·ee·n	1	Lesson 85
seemed	s·ee·m·ed	1	Lesson 85
speech	s·p·ee·ch	1	Lesson 85
street	s·t·r·ee·t	1	Lesson 85
wheels	wh·ee·l·s	1	Lesson 85
screens	s·c·r·ee·n·s	1	Lesson 85
fee	f·ee	1	Lesson 85
wee	w·ee	1	Lesson 85
beef	b·ee·f	1	Lesson 85
deed	d·ee·d	1	Lesson 85
fees	f·ee·s	1	Lesson 85
heel	h·ee·l	1	Lesson 85
knee	kn·ee	1	Lesson 98
thee	th·ee	1	Lesson 85
breed	b·r·ee·d	1	Lesson 85
cheek	ch·ee·k	1	Lesson 85
creed	c·r·ee·d	1	Lesson 85
creep	c·r·ee·p	1	Lesson 85
deeds	d·ee·d·s	1	Lesson 85
fleet	f·l·ee·t	1	Lesson 85
frees	f·r·ee·s	1	Lesson 85
greed	g·r·ee·d	1	Lesson 85
heels	h·ee·l·s	1	Lesson 85
knees	kn·ee·s	1	Lesson 98
queen	qu·ee·n	1	Lesson 85
sheep	sh·ee·p	1	Lesson 85
steel	s·t·ee·l	1	Lesson 85

Two syllables

The 60 most common of 192 words. 132 more are in our list.

Two syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
agree	a·g·r·ee	2	Lesson 85
agrees	a·g·r·ee·s	2	Lesson 85
asleep	a·s·l·ee·p	2	Lesson 85
coffee	c·o·ff·ee	2	Lesson 85
deeply	d·ee·p·l·y	2	Lesson 85
degree	d·e·g·r·ee	2	Lesson 85
freely	f·r·ee·l·y	2	Lesson 85
indeed	i·n·d·ee·d	2	Lesson 85
needed	n·ee·d·ed	2	Lesson 85
seeing	s·ee·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
between	b·e·t·w·ee·n	2	Lesson 85
degrees	d·e·g·r·ee·s	2	Lesson 85
feeding	f·ee·d·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
feeling	f·ee·l·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
freedom	f·r·ee·d·o·m	2	Lesson 85
keeping	k·ee·p·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
meeting	m·ee·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
needing	n·ee·d·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
seeking	s·ee·k·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
seeming	s·ee·m·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
succeed	s·u·cc·ee·d	2	Not in the sequence
weekend	w·ee·k·e·n·d	2	Lesson 85
feedback	f·ee·d·b·a·ck	2	Lesson 85
meetings	m·ee·t·i·ng·s	2	Lesson 85
deeper	d·ee·p·er	2	Lesson 85
exceed	e·xc·ee·d	2	Not in the sequence
feeble	f·ee·b·le	2	Lesson 85
greedy	g·r·ee·d·y	2	Lesson 85
keeper	k·ee·p·er	2	Lesson 85
needle	n·ee·d·le	2	Lesson 85
unseen	u·n·s·ee·n	2	Lesson 85
weekly	w·ee·k·l·y	2	Lesson 85
deepest	d·ee·p·e·s·t	2	Lesson 85
exceeds	e·xc·ee·d·s	2	Not in the sequence
fifteen	f·i·f·t·ee·n	2	Lesson 85
freeing	f·r·ee·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
freeway	f·r·ee·w·ay	2	Lesson 85
freezes	f·r·ee·z·e·s	2	Lesson 85
needles	n·ee·d·le·s	2	Lesson 85
proceed	p·r·o·c·ee·d	2	Lesson 117
sixteen	s·i·x·t·ee·n	2	Lesson 85
teenage	t·ee·n·a_e·g	2	Lesson 85
weekday	w·ee·k·d·ay	2	Lesson 85
breeding	b·r·ee·d·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
eighteen	eigh·t·ee·n	2	Lesson 114
feelings	f·ee·l·i·ng·s	2	Lesson 85
fourteen	f·our·t·ee·n	2	Lesson 85
freeways	f·r·ee·w·ay·s	2	Lesson 85
freezing	f·r·ee·z·i·ng	2	Lesson 109
needless	n·ee·d·l·e·ss	2	Lesson 85
proceeds	p·r·o·c·ee·d·s	2	Lesson 117
sleeping	s·l·ee·p·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
speeches	s·p·ee·ch·es	2	Lesson 85
speeding	s·p·ee·d·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
squeezes	s·qu·ee·z·e·s	2	Lesson 85
succeeds	s·u·cc·ee·d·s	2	Not in the sequence
sweeping	s·w·ee·p·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
weekends	w·ee·k·e·n·d·s	2	Lesson 85
squeezing	s·qu·ee·z·i·ng	2	Lesson 109
beefy	b·ee·f·y	2	Lesson 85

Three or more syllables

39 words, most common first.

Three or more syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
agreeing	a·g·r·ee·i·ng	3	Lesson 85
disagree	d·i·s·a·g·r·ee	3	Lesson 85
employee	e·m·p·l·oy·ee	3	Lesson 95
agreement	a·g·r·ee·m·e·n·t	3	Lesson 85
committee	c·o·mm·i·tt·ee	3	Lesson 85
guarantee	gu·a·r·a·n·t·ee	3	Not in the sequence
guarantees	gu·a·r·a·n·t·ee·s	3	Not in the sequence
guaranteeing	gu·a·r·a·n·t·ee·i·ng	4	Not in the sequence
exceeded	e·xc·ee·d·ed	3	Not in the sequence
teenager	t·ee·n·a·g·er	3	Lesson 109
disagrees	d·i·s·a·g·r·ee·s	3	Lesson 85
employees	e·m·p·l·oy·ee·s	3	Lesson 95
exceeding	e·xc·ee·d·i·ng	3	Not in the sequence
proceeded	p·r·o·c·ee·d·ed	3	Lesson 117
seemingly	s·ee·m·i·ng·l·y	3	Lesson 85
succeeded	s·u·cc·ee·d·ed	3	Not in the sequence
teenagers	t·ee·n·a·g·er·s	3	Lesson 109
agreements	a·g·r·ee·m·e·n·t·s	3	Lesson 85
committees	c·o·mm·i·tt·ee·s	3	Lesson 85
needlessly	n·ee·d·l·e·ss·l·y	3	Lesson 85
proceeding	p·r·o·c·ee·d·i·ng	3	Lesson 117
succeeding	s·u·cc·ee·d·i·ng	3	Not in the sequence
proceedings	p·r·o·c·ee·d·i·ng·s	3	Lesson 117
disagreeing	d·i·s·a·g·r·ee·i·ng	4	Lesson 85
exceedingly	e·xc·ee·d·i·ng·l·y	4	Not in the sequence
foreseeable	f·ore·s·ee·a·b·le	4	Lesson 85
disagreement	d·i·s·a·g·r·ee·m·e·n·t	4	Lesson 85
needier	n·ee·d·i·er	3	Lesson 110
greedier	g·r·ee·d·i·er	3	Lesson 110
greedily	g·r·ee·d·i·l·y	3	Lesson 110
greenery	g·r·ee·n·er·y	3	Lesson 85
neediest	n·ee·d·i·e·s·t	3	Lesson 110
speedier	s·p·ee·d·i·er	3	Lesson 110
greediest	g·r·ee·d·i·e·s·t	3	Lesson 110
unfeeling	u·n·f·ee·l·i·ng	3	Lesson 85
sheepishly	sh·ee·p·i·sh·l·y	3	Lesson 85
agreeable	a·g·r·ee·a·b·le	4	Lesson 85
disagreements	d·i·s·a·g·r·ee·m·e·n·t·s	4	Lesson 85
disagreeable	d·i·s·a·g·r·ee·a·b·le	5	Lesson 85

When do these words become readable?

The lessons where the most words on this page become decodable. Words marked not in the sequence have a spelling the sequence never teaches as a pattern.

Lessons where the most words on this page become readable
Readable after	Words
Lesson 64	4
Lesson 85	344
Lesson 95	2
Lesson 98	7
Lesson 109	9
Lesson 110	7
Lesson 112	3
Lesson 117	9
Not in the sequence	12

How do you teach ee words?

Ee is a good first long e team because it has only one sound. "Two e's together say /ē/." Read see, feet, tree, sleep, green. Then introduce ea and teach the homophone pairs that make spelling hard: meet and meat, see and sea, week and weak. Ee can go anywhere in a word, so position won't help.

What mistake do students make with ee words?

In spelling, ee and ea are swapped. Teach the pairs with meaning: "See is with your eyes. Sea is the ocean." A short list of common ee words on a card is the best defense.

Where do ee words come in the sequence?

Ee is taught in the same lesson as ea and ey in most sequences, right after ai and ay. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 85.

Exceptions worth knowing

Been says /ĭ/ in American English. Before r, ee changes sound (deer, cheer), so eer words have their own page.

Decodable sentences

Every word in these sentences can be read at Lesson 85 or earlier, or is a heart word taught by then.

I see three bees on the tree.
The sheep can sleep.
We need green seeds.

Questions people ask

What are 5 ee words?

See, deep, feel, feet, free. Those are the five most common of the 410 words where ee says /ē/ in our checked list.

Does ee always say long e?

Almost always. Been is the common exception. Before r, as in deer, the sound changes.

When do you use ee and when ea?

No rule decides it. Ee is common in short words (see, tree, feet). Learn the homophone pairs (meet and meat) by meaning.

When can a student read ee words?

Ee words are taught at Lesson 85 in the lesson sequence we use. 352 of the 410 words on this page can be sounded out by then; the rest wait for a pattern taught later, and the tables show the lesson for each word.

How this list was built

Every word comes from our lexicon of common English words, each split into spelling units and checked against a pronouncing dictionary, so a word is listed under the sound its spelling really makes. Words a student sees in our assessments are left out. The readable after lesson comes from our decodability engine, which checks each spelling unit and syllable pattern against the lesson sequence. You can run your own text through the same engine with the free decodable text checker.