Phonics word list

SM blend words

In short

Sm is an s blend: s and m together at the start of a word, both heard, as in smell, small and smile. Our checked list has 63 words that start with the sm blend.

At a glance

Words in our list: 63
By syllables: one syllable: 34 · two syllables: 29 · three or more syllables: 0
Taught in: Lesson 35c in the sequence

Sm 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

34 words, most common first.

One syllable
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
small	s·m·a·ll	1	Lesson 43
smile	s·m·i_e·l	1	Lesson 55
smooth	s·m·oo·th	1	Lesson 90
smug	s·m·u·g	1	Lesson 16
smart	s·m·ar·t	1	Lesson 77
smash	s·m·a·sh	1	Lesson 45
smell	s·m·e·ll	1	Lesson 42
smith	s·m·i·th	1	Lesson 47
smoke	s·m·o_e·k	1	Lesson 56
smells	s·m·e·ll·s	1	Lesson 42
smiled	s·m·i_e·l·d	1	Lesson 64
smiles	s·m·i_e·l·s	1	Lesson 55
smoked	s·m·o·k·ed	1	Lesson 64
smokes	s·m·o_e·k·s	1	Lesson 56
smashed	s·m·a·sh·ed	1	Lesson 64
smog	s·m·o·g	1	Lesson 16
smack	s·m·a·ck	1	Lesson 44
smear	s·m·ear	1	Lesson 113
smelt	s·m·e·l·t	1	Lesson 26
smirk	s·m·ir·k	1	Lesson 81
smock	s·m·o·ck	1	Lesson 44
smacks	s·m·a·ck·s	1	Lesson 44
smalls	s·m·a·ll·s	1	Lesson 43
smarts	s·m·ar·t·s	1	Lesson 77
smears	s·m·ear·s	1	Lesson 113
smirks	s·m·ir·k·s	1	Lesson 81
smiths	s·m·i·th·s	1	Lesson 47
smudge	s·m·u·dge	1	Lesson 70
smacked	s·m·a·ck·ed	1	Lesson 64
smeared	s·m·ear·ed	1	Lesson 113
smelled	s·m·e·ll·ed	1	Lesson 64
smooths	s·m·oo·th·s	1	Lesson 90
smudged	s·m·u·dge·d	1	Lesson 70
smoothed	s·m·oo·th·ed	1	Lesson 90

Two syllables

29 words, most common first.

Two syllables
Word	Spelling units	Syllables	Readable after
smaller	s·m·a·ll·er	2	Lesson 80
smallest	s·m·a·ll·e·s·t	2	Lesson 67b
smelly	s·m·e·ll·y	2	Lesson 74
smoker	s·m·o·k·er	2	Lesson 80
smashes	s·m·a·sh·es	2	Lesson 63
smiling	s·m·i·l·i·ng	2	Lesson 109
smokers	s·m·o·k·er·s	2	Lesson 80
smoking	s·m·o·k·i·ng	2	Lesson 109
smallish	s·m·a·ll·i·sh	2	Lesson 67b
smashing	s·m·a·sh·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
smoothly	s·m·oo·th·l·y	2	Lesson 90
smoky	s·m·o·k·y	2	Lesson 74
smugly	s·m·u·g·l·y	2	Lesson 74
smarted	s·m·ar·t·ed	2	Lesson 77
smarter	s·m·ar·t·er	2	Lesson 80
smartly	s·m·ar·t·l·y	2	Lesson 77
smacking	s·m·a·ck·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
smartest	s·m·ar·t·e·s·t	2	Lesson 77
smarting	s·m·ar·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 77
smearing	s·m·ear·i·ng	2	Lesson 113
smelling	s·m·e·ll·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
smelting	s·m·e·l·t·i·ng	2	Lesson 65
smirking	s·m·ir·k·i·ng	2	Lesson 81
smoother	s·m·oo·th·er	2	Lesson 90
smoothest	s·m·oo·th·e·s·t	2	Lesson 90
smoothing	s·m·oo·th·i·ng	2	Lesson 90
smokestack	s·m·o_e·k·s·t·a·ck	2	Lesson 67a
smoothness	s·m·oo·th·n·e·ss	2	Lesson 90
smokestacks	s·m·o_e·k·s·t·a·ck·s	2	Lesson 67a

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 44	3
Lesson 64	5
Lesson 65	4
Lesson 74	3
Lesson 77	6
Lesson 80	4
Lesson 90	8
Lesson 113	4

How do you teach sm words?

Both sounds can be held, so sm is easy to stretch. "Ssssmmmell." Build from known words: mash to smash, mug to smug. Sm starts many sense words (smell, smoke, smooth), which give good sentence material.

What mistake do students make with sm words?

Students occasionally drop the m (sell for smell). Stretch both sounds and ask what comes after /s/.

Where do sm words come in the sequence?

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

Exceptions worth knowing

In words like chasm and prism, s and m end the word and are split by a vowel sound. Sm never takes a silent letter.

Decodable sentences

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

The smog is bad.
The fox is smug.

Questions people ask

What are 5 sm words?

Small, smile, smooth, smaller, smallest. Those are the five most common of the 63 words that start with the sm blend in our checked list.

What are some sm words?

Small, smell, smile, smoke, smart, smash, smooth and smog.

Is sm a hard blend?

It is one of the easier ones, because both /s/ and /m/ can be stretched.

When can a student read sm words?

Sm words are taught at Lesson 35c in the lesson sequence we use. 3 of the 63 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.