Phonics word list

Sh words

In short

Sh is a consonant digraph: the letters s and h together spell one sound, /sh/, as in ship, fish and wishes. Sh nearly always says /sh/. Our checked list has 616 words with the sh digraph.

At a glance

Words in our list: 616
By syllables: one syllable: 213 · two syllables: 320 · three or more syllables: 83
By position: initial: 259 · medial: 258 · final: 99
Taught in: Lesson 45 in the sequence

Sh 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.

Initial position (at the start)

The 60 most common of 259 words. 199 more are in our list.

Initial position (at the start)
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
she	sh·e	1	Lesson 14 (heart word)
ship	sh·i·p	1	Lesson 45
shop	sh·o·p	1	Lesson 45
show	sh·ow	1	Lesson 86
shut	sh·u·t	1	Lesson 45
shall	sh·a·ll	1	Lesson 45
shame	sh·a_e·m	1	Lesson 54
shape	sh·a_e·p	1	Lesson 54
share	sh·are	1	Lesson 112
sharp	sh·ar·p	1	Lesson 77
sheet	sh·ee·t	1	Lesson 85
shelf	sh·e·l·f	1	Lesson 45
shell	sh·e·ll	1	Lesson 45
shift	sh·i·f·t	1	Lesson 45
shoot	sh·oo·t	1	Lesson 90
shops	sh·o·p·s	1	Lesson 45
short	sh·or·t	1	Lesson 78
shown	sh·ow·n	1	Lesson 86
shows	sh·ow·s	1	Lesson 86
shuts	sh·u·t·s	1	Lesson 45
shared	sh·are·d	1	Lesson 112
shares	sh·are·s	1	Lesson 112
should	sh·ou·l·d	1	Lesson 34 (heart word)
showed	sh·ow·ed	1	Lesson 86
shopped	sh·o·pp·ed	1	Lesson 107
sharing	sh·a·r·i·ng	2	Lesson 112
shorter	sh·or·t·er	2	Lesson 80
shortly	sh·or·t·l·y	2	Lesson 78
showing	sh·ow·i·ng	2	Lesson 86
shopping	sh·o·pp·i·ng	2	Lesson 107
shortage	sh·or·t·a·g·e	2	Lesson 78
shortest	sh·or·t·e·s·t	2	Lesson 78
shutting	sh·u·tt·i·ng	2	Lesson 107
shy	sh·y	1	Lesson 73
shed	sh·e·d	1	Lesson 45
shoe	sh·oe	1	Not in the sequence
shot	sh·o·t	1	Lesson 45
shade	sh·a_e·d	1	Lesson 54
shake	sh·a_e·k	1	Lesson 54
sheds	sh·e·d·s	1	Lesson 45
sheep	sh·ee·p	1	Lesson 85
sheer	sh·eer	1	Lesson 113
shine	sh·i_e·n	1	Lesson 55
ships	sh·i·p·s	1	Lesson 45
shirt	sh·ir·t	1	Lesson 81
shock	sh·o·ck	1	Lesson 45
shoes	sh·oe·s	1	Not in the sequence
shone	sh·o_e·n	1	Lesson 56
shook	sh·oo·k	1	Lesson 89
shots	sh·o·t·s	1	Lesson 45
shout	sh·ou·t	1	Lesson 96
shove	sh·o·v·e	1	Lesson 62
shades	sh·a_e·d·s	1	Lesson 54
shakes	sh·a_e·k·s	1	Lesson 54
shaped	sh·a·p·ed	1	Lesson 64
shapes	sh·a_e·p·s	1	Lesson 54
sheets	sh·ee·t·s	1	Lesson 85
shells	sh·e·ll·s	1	Lesson 45
shelve	sh·e·l·v·e	1	Lesson 60
shifts	sh·i·f·t·s	1	Lesson 45

Medial position (in the middle)

The 60 most common of 258 words. 198 more are in our list.

Medial position (in the middle)
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
pushed	p·u·sh·ed	1	Lesson 89
wished	w·i·sh·ed	1	Lesson 64
crashed	c·r·a·sh·ed	1	Lesson 64
flashed	f·l·a·sh·ed	1	Lesson 64
fishes	f·i·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
pushes	p·u·sh·es	2	Lesson 89
wishes	w·i·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
crashes	c·r·a·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
flashes	f·l·a·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
pushing	p·u·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 89
wishing	w·i·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
crashing	c·r·a·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
finished	f·i·n·i·sh·ed	2	Lesson 67b
flashing	f·l·a·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
published	p·u·b·l·i·sh·ed	2	Lesson 67b
finishes	f·i·n·i·sh·es	3	Lesson 67b
finishing	f·i·n·i·sh·i·ng	3	Lesson 67b
publishes	p·u·b·l·i·sh·es	3	Lesson 67b
membership	m·e·m·b·er·sh·i·p	3	Lesson 80
publishing	p·u·b·l·i·sh·i·ng	3	Lesson 67b
established	e·s·t·a·b·l·i·sh·ed	3	Lesson 67b
establishes	e·s·t·a·b·l·i·sh·es	4	Lesson 67b
establishing	e·s·t·a·b·l·i·sh·i·ng	4	Lesson 67b
relationship	r·e·l·a·tion·sh·i·p	4	Lesson 119
establishment	e·s·t·a·b·l·i·sh·m·e·n·t	4	Lesson 67b
bashed	b·a·sh·ed	1	Lesson 64
dashed	d·a·sh·ed	1	Lesson 64
fished	f·i·sh·ed	1	Lesson 64
rushed	r·u·sh·ed	1	Lesson 64
washed	w·a·sh·ed	1	Lesson 94
crushed	c·r·u·sh·ed	1	Lesson 64
flushed	f·l·u·sh·ed	1	Lesson 64
smashed	s·m·a·sh·ed	1	Lesson 64
squashed	s·qu·a·sh·ed	1	Lesson 94
ashes	a·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
bashes	b·a·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
bishop	b·i·sh·o·p	2	Lesson 67b
dashes	d·a·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
dishes	d·i·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
rushes	r·u·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
washes	w·a·sh·es	2	Lesson 94
bashing	b·a·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
clashes	c·l·a·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
crushes	c·r·u·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
dashing	d·a·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
fishing	f·i·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
flushes	f·l·u·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
rushing	r·u·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
smashes	s·m·a·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
washing	w·a·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 94
worship	w·or·sh·i·p	2	Lesson 82
bookshop	b·oo·k·sh·o·p	2	Lesson 89
crushing	c·r·u·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
flushing	f·l·u·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
hardship	h·ar·d·sh·i·p	2	Lesson 77
punished	p·u·n·i·sh·ed	2	Lesson 67b
smashing	s·m·a·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
sunshine	s·u·n·sh·i_e·n	2	Lesson 67a
vanished	v·a·n·i·sh·ed	2	Lesson 67b
workshop	w·or·k·sh·o·p	2	Lesson 82

Final position (at the end)

The 60 most common of 99 words. 39 more are in our list.

Final position (at the end)
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
fish	f·i·sh	1	Lesson 45
push	p·u·sh	1	Lesson 89
rush	r·u·sh	1	Lesson 45
wash	w·a·sh	1	Lesson 94
wish	w·i·sh	1	Lesson 45
crash	c·r·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
flash	f·l·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
fresh	f·r·e·sh	1	Lesson 45
trash	t·r·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
finish	f·i·n·i·sh	2	Lesson 67b
publish	p·u·b·l·i·sh	2	Lesson 67b
rubbish	r·u·bb·i·sh	2	Lesson 67b
establish	e·s·t·a·b·l·i·sh	3	Lesson 67b
distinguish	d·i·s·t·i·n·g·u·i·sh	3	Not in the sequence
ash	a·sh	1	Lesson 45
bash	b·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
bush	b·u·sh	1	Lesson 89
cash	c·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
dash	d·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
dish	d·i·sh	1	Lesson 45
hash	h·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
rash	r·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
brush	b·r·u·sh	1	Lesson 45
clash	c·l·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
crush	c·r·u·sh	1	Lesson 45
flesh	f·l·e·sh	1	Lesson 45
flush	f·l·u·sh	1	Lesson 45
harsh	h·ar·sh	1	Lesson 77
slash	s·l·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
smash	s·m·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
squash	s·qu·a·sh	1	Lesson 94
polish	p·o·l·i·sh	2	Lesson 68
punish	p·u·n·i·sh	2	Lesson 67b
vanish	v·a·n·i·sh	2	Lesson 67b
anguish	a·n·g·u·i·sh	2	Not in the sequence
foolish	f·oo·l·i·sh	2	Lesson 90
refresh	r·e·f·r·e·sh	2	Lesson 67b
selfish	s·e·l·f·i·sh	2	Lesson 67b
childish	ch·i·l·d·i·sh	2	Lesson 72
goldfish	g·o·l·d·f·i·sh	2	Lesson 72
smallish	s·m·a·ll·i·sh	2	Lesson 67b
abolish	a·b·o·l·i·sh	3	Lesson 68
demolish	d·e·m·o·l·i·sh	3	Lesson 67b
gibberish	g·i·bb·er·i·sh	3	Lesson 80
accomplish	a·cc·o·m·p·l·i·sh	3	Lesson 68
gosh	g·o·sh	1	Lesson 45
gush	g·u·sh	1	Lesson 45
hush	h·u·sh	1	Lesson 45
lash	l·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
lush	l·u·sh	1	Lesson 45
mash	m·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
mesh	m·e·sh	1	Lesson 45
mush	m·u·sh	1	Lesson 45
sash	s·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
blush	b·l·u·sh	1	Lesson 45
brash	b·r·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
gnash	gn·a·sh	1	Lesson 118
leash	l·ea·sh	1	Lesson 85
marsh	m·ar·sh	1	Lesson 77
plush	p·l·u·sh	1	Lesson 45

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 45	76
Lesson 63	27
Lesson 64	40
Lesson 65	31
Lesson 67a	29
Lesson 67b	59
Lesson 80	32
Lesson 85	22
Not in the sequence	34

How do you teach sh words?

Use a gesture students remember: finger to lips for /sh/. "S and h are partners. Together they say /sh/, like when the baby is asleep." Read words with sh at the start first (ship, shop, shut), then at the end (fish, wish, rush), because final sh is harder to spot. Speech therapists often want words by position, so the tables here split initial, medial and final.

What mistake do students make with sh words?

The classic error is reading sh as /s/ /h/, or spelling it as s alone (sip for ship). Give the student a sound box with sh in a single box and ask how many sounds ship has. In writing, a quick check works: "Is it /s/ or /sh/? Shush me."

Where do sh words come in the sequence?

Sh is usually the first or second digraph, taught right after ck. It is a good opener because its sound is distinct and it almost never changes. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 45.

Exceptions worth knowing

The /sh/ sound has many other spellings that come later: ti and ci in nation and special, ch in chef, s in sure and sugar, ss in issue. Sh across a word part, as in mishap, is s and h saying two sounds.

Decodable sentences

Every word in these sentences can be read at Lesson 45 or earlier, or is a heart word taught by then.

The fish is in a dish.
She can shut the shop.
We had a bash on the ship.

Questions people ask

What are 5 sh words?

She, fish, push, rush, ship. Those are the five most common of the 616 words with the sh digraph in our checked list.

Is sh a digraph or a blend?

A digraph. The s and h don't keep their own sounds; together they make one new sound, /sh/.

What are words that start with sh?

Ship, shop, shut, shell, shed, shin, shock and shelf are common ones. The initial position table on this page lists more, most common first.

When can a student read sh words?

Sh words are taught at Lesson 45 in the lesson sequence we use. 76 of the 616 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.