Phonics word list

GL blend words

In short

Gl is an l blend: g says /g/ and l follows, as in glad, glass and glow. Our checked list has 77 words that start with the gl blend.

At a glance

Words in our list: 77
By syllables: one syllable: 47 · two syllables: 27 · three or more syllables: 3
Taught in: Lesson 35c in the sequence

Gl 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

47 words, most common first.

One syllable
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
glad	g·l·a·d	1	Lesson 26
glass	g·l·a·ss	1	Lesson 42
glow	g·l·ow	1	Lesson 86
glue	g·l·ue	1	Lesson 91
glean	g·l·ea·n	1	Lesson 85
glove	g·l·o·v·e	1	Lesson 62
glows	g·l·ow·s	1	Lesson 86
glance	g·l·a·n·c·e	1	Lesson 60
gloves	g·l·o·v·e·s	1	Lesson 62
glowed	g·l·ow·ed	1	Lesson 86
gleaned	g·l·ea·n·ed	1	Lesson 85
glee	g·l·ee	1	Lesson 85
glen	g·l·e·n	1	Lesson 26
glib	g·l·i·b	1	Lesson 26
glum	g·l·u·m	1	Lesson 26
glut	g·l·u·t	1	Lesson 26
glade	g·l·a_e·d	1	Lesson 54
gland	g·l·a·n·d	1	Lesson 26
glare	g·l·are	1	Lesson 112
glaze	g·l·a_e·z	1	Lesson 54
gleam	g·l·ea·m	1	Lesson 85
glens	g·l·e·n·s	1	Lesson 26
glide	g·l·i_e·d	1	Lesson 55
glint	g·l·i·n·t	1	Lesson 26
gloat	g·l·oa·t	1	Lesson 86
globe	g·l·o_e·b	1	Lesson 56
gloom	g·l·oo·m	1	Lesson 90
gloss	g·l·o·ss	1	Lesson 42
glued	g·l·u·ed	1	Lesson 91
glues	g·l·ue·s	1	Lesson 91
gluts	g·l·u·t·s	1	Lesson 26
glades	g·l·a_e·d·s	1	Lesson 54
glands	g·l·a·n·d·s	1	Lesson 26
glared	g·l·are·d	1	Lesson 112
glares	g·l·are·s	1	Lesson 112
glazed	g·l·a_e·z·d	1	Lesson 64
gleams	g·l·ea·m·s	1	Lesson 85
glides	g·l·i_e·d·s	1	Lesson 55
gloats	g·l·oa·t·s	1	Lesson 86
globes	g·l·o_e·b·s	1	Lesson 56
gloved	g·l·o·v·ed	1	Lesson 64
glanced	g·l·a·n·c·ed	1	Lesson 64
glassed	g·l·a·ss·ed	1	Lesson 64
gleamed	g·l·ea·m·ed	1	Lesson 85
glimpse	g·l·i·m·p·s·e	1	Lesson 60
glossed	g·l·o·ss·ed	1	Lesson 64
glimpsed	g·l·i·m·p·s·ed	1	Lesson 64

Two syllables

27 words, most common first.

Two syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
global	g·l·o·b·a·l	2	Lesson 68
glory	g·l·or·y	2	Lesson 78
gladly	g·l·a·d·l·y	2	Lesson 74
glossy	g·l·o·ss·y	2	Lesson 74
glasses	g·l·a·ss·es	2	Lesson 63
glowing	g·l·ow·i·ng	2	Lesson 86
glassy	g·l·a·ss·y	2	Lesson 74
glazes	g·l·a_e·z·s	2	Lesson 63
glibly	g·l·i·b·l·y	2	Lesson 74
glided	g·l·i·d·ed	2	Lesson 64
glider	g·l·i·d·er	2	Lesson 80
gloomy	g·l·oo·m·y	2	Lesson 90
glances	g·l·a·n·c·e·s	2	Lesson 60
glaring	g·l·a·r·i·ng	2	Lesson 112
glazing	g·l·a·z·i·ng	2	Lesson 109
gliders	g·l·i·d·er·s	2	Lesson 80
gliding	g·l·i·d·i·ng	2	Lesson 109
gloated	g·l·oa·t·ed	2	Lesson 86
glories	g·l·or·ie·s	2	Lesson 110
glosses	g·l·o·ss·es	2	Lesson 63
glummer	g·l·u·mm·er	2	Lesson 80
glutted	g·l·u·tt·ed	2	Lesson 107
glancing	g·l·a·n·c·i·ng	2	Lesson 109
gleaming	g·l·ea·m·i·ng	2	Lesson 85
glimpses	g·l·i·m·p·s·e·s	2	Lesson 60
glinting	g·l·i·n·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
gloating	g·l·oa·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 86

Three or more syllables

3 words, most common first.

Three or more syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
globally	g·l·o·b·a·ll·y	3	Lesson 74
glorious	g·l·or·i·ou·s	3	Not in the sequence
gloriously	g·l·or·i·ou·s·l·y	4	Not in the sequence

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 26	10
Lesson 60	4
Lesson 64	7
Lesson 74	5
Lesson 85	7
Lesson 86	8
Lesson 91	3
Lesson 112	4
Not in the sequence	2

How do you teach gl words?

Gl is less common, so it can come last among the l blends. "Lad. Add /g/ to the front. Glad." Keep the g hard; gl always has the /g/ sound. Many gl words have to do with light (glow, gleam, glint, glitter), and students remember that pattern.

What mistake do students make with gl words?

Students drop the l (gad for glad) or confuse gl with gr. Say glad and grad slowly and have the student watch where the tongue goes: up for /l/, back for /r/.

Where do gl words come in the sequence?

Gl is taught with the other l blends. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 35c.

Exceptions worth knowing

In jungle and eagle, gl is split by a syllable, with g ending one and l in the -le ending. The g in gl never turns soft.

Decodable sentences

Every word in these sentences can be read at Lesson 35c or earlier, or is a heart word taught by then.

I am glad to get the lamp.
The glum pup sat in the mud.

Questions people ask

What are 5 gl words?

Glad, glass, global, glow, glue. Those are the five most common of the 77 words that start with the gl blend in our checked list.

What are some gl words?

Glad, glass, glue, glow, globe, glove, glance and glitter.

Can g be soft in gl words?

No. Before l, g always says /g/.

When can a student read gl words?

Gl words are taught at Lesson 35c in the lesson sequence we use. 10 of the 77 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.