Phonics word list

SK blend words

In short

Sk is an s blend that says /sk/, mostly before e, i and y at the start of a word, as in skip, sketch and sky. At the end, it spells the blend in desk and ask. Our checked list has 73 words that start with the sk blend.

At a glance

Words in our list: 73
By syllables: one syllable: 38 · two syllables: 31 · three or more syllables: 4
Taught in: Lesson 35c in the sequence

Sk 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

38 words, most common first.

One syllable
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
skill	s·k·i·ll	1	Lesson 42
skills	s·k·i·ll·s	1	Lesson 42
sky	s·k·y	1	Lesson 73
skin	s·k·i·n	1	Lesson 22
skip	s·k·i·p	1	Lesson 22
skips	s·k·i·p·s	1	Lesson 22
skirt	s·k·ir·t	1	Lesson 81
skull	s·k·u·ll	1	Lesson 42
sketch	s·k·e·tch	1	Lesson 69
skilled	s·k·i·ll·ed	1	Lesson 64
skipped	s·k·i·pp·ed	1	Lesson 107
ski	s·k·i	1	Not in the sequence
skew	s·k·ew	1	Lesson 115
skid	s·k·i·d	1	Lesson 22
skim	s·k·i·m	1	Lesson 22
skis	s·k·i·s	1	Not in the sequence
skit	s·k·i·t	1	Lesson 22
skate	s·k·a_e·t	1	Lesson 54
skein	s·k·ei·n	1	Lesson 114
skews	s·k·ew·s	1	Lesson 115
skids	s·k·i·d·s	1	Lesson 22
skied	s·k·i·ed	1	Not in the sequence
skies	s·k·ie·s	1	Lesson 110
skimp	s·k·i·m·p	1	Lesson 22
skins	s·k·i·n·s	1	Lesson 22
skits	s·k·i·t·s	1	Lesson 22
skulk	s·k·u·l·k	1	Lesson 26
skunk	s·k·u·n·k	1	Lesson 52
skates	s·k·a_e·t·s	1	Lesson 54
skeins	s·k·ei·n·s	1	Lesson 114
skewed	s·k·ew·ed	1	Lesson 115
skirts	s·k·ir·t·s	1	Lesson 81
skulks	s·k·u·l·k·s	1	Lesson 26
skulls	s·k·u·ll·s	1	Lesson 42
skunks	s·k·u·n·k·s	1	Lesson 52
skimmed	s·k·i·mm·ed	1	Lesson 107
skinned	s·k·i·nn·ed	1	Lesson 107
sketched	s·k·e·tch·ed	1	Lesson 69

Two syllables

31 words, most common first.

Two syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
sketches	s·k·e·tch·es	2	Lesson 69
skipping	s·k·i·pp·i·ng	2	Lesson 107
skated	s·k·a·t·ed	2	Lesson 64
skater	s·k·a·t·er	2	Lesson 80
skewer	s·k·ew·er	2	Lesson 115
skiing	s·k·i·i·ng	2	Not in the sequence
skimpy	s·k·i·m·p·y	2	Lesson 74
skinny	s·k·i·nn·y	2	Lesson 74
skaters	s·k·a·t·er·s	2	Lesson 80
skating	s·k·a·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 109
sketchy	s·k·e·tch·y	2	Lesson 74
skewers	s·k·ew·er·s	2	Lesson 115
skewing	s·k·ew·i·ng	2	Lesson 115
skidded	s·k·i·dd·ed	2	Lesson 107
skipper	s·k·i·pp·er	2	Lesson 80
skirted	s·k·ir·t·ed	2	Lesson 81
skyline	s·k·y·l·i_e·n	2	Lesson 73
skewered	s·k·ew·er·ed	2	Lesson 115
skidding	s·k·i·dd·i·ng	2	Lesson 107
skimming	s·k·i·mm·i·ng	2	Lesson 107
skimping	s·k·i·m·p·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
skippers	s·k·i·pp·er·s	2	Lesson 80
skirting	s·k·ir·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 81
skittish	s·k·i·tt·i·sh	2	Lesson 67b
skulking	s·k·u·l·k·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
skylight	s·k·y·l·igh·t	2	Lesson 87
skylines	s·k·y·l·i_e·n·s	2	Lesson 73
sketching	s·k·e·tch·i·ng	2	Lesson 69
skinflint	s·k·i·n·f·l·i·n·t	2	Lesson 67a
skylights	s·k·y·l·igh·t·s	2	Lesson 87
skateboard	s·k·a_e·t·b·oar·d	2	Lesson 78

Three or more syllables

4 words, most common first.

Three or more syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
skeleton	s·k·e·l·e·t·o·n	3	Lesson 67b
skinnier	s·k·i·nn·i·er	3	Lesson 110
skeletons	s·k·e·l·e·t·o·n·s	3	Lesson 67b
skinniest	s·k·i·nn·i·e·s·t	3	Lesson 110

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 22	10
Lesson 42	4
Lesson 69	4
Lesson 73	3
Lesson 80	4
Lesson 81	4
Lesson 107	7
Lesson 115	7
Not in the sequence	4

How do you teach sk words?

Teach sk with sc as one spelling choice. "Before e, i or y, write sk." Practice skin, skip, skit, sky. At the end of a word, sk follows a short vowel in desk, task and dusk, which also appear on the ending blends page.

What mistake do students make with sk words?

Students spell skin as scin, which would read as /sin/. Show them why: c before i turns soft. That logic sticks better than a rule to memorize.

Where do sk words come in the sequence?

Sk is taught with the other s blends after short vowels. In the sequence we use, the pattern is taught in Lesson 35c.

Exceptions worth knowing

Ski is borrowed and keeps its own spelling. Skull and skunk use sk before u, which breaks the usual pattern.

Decodable sentences

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

Skip to the pond.
The kid has a bump on his skin.
The task on the desk is fun.

Questions people ask

What are 5 sk words?

Skill, skills, sky, skin, skip. Those are the five most common of the 73 words that start with the sk blend in our checked list.

Why is skin spelled with k?

If it were spelled scin, the c would say /s/ before i. The k keeps the /k/ sound.

What are some sk words?

Skip, skin, sky, skate, skill, sketch, skunk and skirt.

When can a student read sk words?

Sk words are taught at Lesson 35c in the lesson sequence we use. 12 of the 73 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.