Word family

Short u word families

The answer

Short u word families are groups of one-syllable words that share a rime with the short u sound, like -ung, -unk, -uck and -uff. Our lexicon has 211 public words in 24 such families of three or more words, listed family by family.

What do these families share?

Short u families are long and varied: ung, unk, uck, uff, um, ump and ush all have plenty of words. Many end in a welded sound (ung, unk) or a doubled letter (uff, ull), so short u is good practice for the spellings that sit at the end of short words. Udge is here too, a family that exists only because of the dge rule.

The families and their words

The -ug family, as in bug

16 words

The -ug family, as in bug
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
bug	b + ug	Lesson 17
plug	pl + ug	Lesson 26
dug	d + ug	Lesson 16
mug	m + ug	Lesson 16
smug	sm + ug	Lesson 16
hug	h + ug	Lesson 23
jug	j + ug	Lesson 29
lug	l + ug	Lesson 26
rug	r + ug	Lesson 24
tug	t + ug	Lesson 16
chug	ch + ug	Lesson 48
slug	sl + ug	Lesson 26
snug	sn + ug	Lesson 16
thug	th + ug	Lesson 47
shrug	shr + ug	Lesson 45
pug	p + ug	Lesson 16

The -um family, as in sum

14 words

The -um family, as in sum
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
sum	s + um	Lesson 15
gum	g + um	Lesson 16
hum	h + um	Lesson 23
mum	m + um	Lesson 15
drum	dr + um	Lesson 24
scum	sc + um	Lesson 15
swum	sw + um	Lesson 28
bum	b + um	Lesson 17
rum	r + um	Lesson 24
chum	ch + um	Lesson 48
glum	gl + um	Lesson 26
plum	pl + um	Lesson 26
slum	sl + um	Lesson 26
strum	str + um	Lesson 24

The -uck family, as in luck

14 words

The -uck family, as in luck
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
luck	l + uck	Lesson 44
stuck	st + uck	Lesson 44
truck	tr + uck	Lesson 44
struck	str + uck	Lesson 44
buck	b + uck	Lesson 44
duck	d + uck	Lesson 44
muck	m + uck	Lesson 44
chuck	ch + uck	Lesson 48
puck	p + uck	Lesson 44
tuck	t + uck	Lesson 44
yuck	y + uck	Lesson 44
cluck	cl + uck	Lesson 44
pluck	pl + uck	Lesson 44
shuck	sh + uck	Lesson 45

The -ub family, as in club

13 words

The -ub family, as in club
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
club	cl + ub	Lesson 26
pub	p + ub	Lesson 17
rub	r + ub	Lesson 24
cub	c + ub	Lesson 17
dub	d + ub	Lesson 17
hub	h + ub	Lesson 23
sub	s + ub	Lesson 17
tub	t + ub	Lesson 17
grub	gr + ub	Lesson 24
snub	sn + ub	Lesson 17
stub	st + ub	Lesson 17
scrub	scr + ub	Lesson 24
shrub	shr + ub	Lesson 45

The -ung family, as in hung

13 words

The -ung family, as in hung
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
hung	h + ung	Lesson 51
lung	l + ung	Lesson 51
rung	r + ung	Lesson 51
sung	s + ung	Lesson 51
sprung	spr + ung	Lesson 51
bung	b + ung	Lesson 51
clung	cl + ung	Lesson 51
flung	fl + ung	Lesson 51
slung	sl + ung	Lesson 51
stung	st + ung	Lesson 51
swung	sw + ung	Lesson 51
wrung	wr + ung	Lesson 98
strung	str + ung	Lesson 51

The -uff family, as in stuff

13 words

The -uff family, as in stuff
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
stuff	st + uff	Lesson 42
duff	d + uff	Lesson 42
buff	b + uff	Lesson 42
cuff	c + uff	Lesson 42
huff	h + uff	Lesson 42
muff	m + uff	Lesson 42
puff	p + uff	Lesson 42
ruff	r + uff	Lesson 42
bluff	bl + uff	Lesson 42
fluff	fl + uff	Lesson 42
gruff	gr + uff	Lesson 42
scuff	sc + uff	Lesson 42
snuff	sn + uff	Lesson 42

The -ump family, as in dump

12 words

The -ump family, as in dump
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
dump	d + ump	Lesson 15
jump	j + ump	Lesson 29
bump	b + ump	Lesson 17
lump	l + ump	Lesson 26
pump	p + ump	Lesson 15
rump	r + ump	Lesson 24
clump	cl + ump	Lesson 26
plump	pl + ump	Lesson 26
slump	sl + ump	Lesson 26
stump	st + ump	Lesson 15
thump	th + ump	Lesson 47
trump	tr + ump	Lesson 24

The -unk family, as in junk

12 words

The -unk family, as in junk
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
junk	j + unk	Lesson 52
trunk	tr + unk	Lesson 52
sunk	s + unk	Lesson 52
chunk	ch + unk	Lesson 52
bunk	b + unk	Lesson 52
dunk	d + unk	Lesson 52
hunk	h + unk	Lesson 52
punk	p + unk	Lesson 52
flunk	fl + unk	Lesson 52
skunk	sk + unk	Lesson 52
stunk	st + unk	Lesson 52
shrunk	shr + unk	Lesson 52

The -ush family, as in rush

11 words

The -ush family, as in rush
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
rush	r + ush	Lesson 45
brush	br + ush	Lesson 45
crush	cr + ush	Lesson 45
flush	fl + ush	Lesson 45
gush	g + ush	Lesson 45
hush	h + ush	Lesson 45
lush	l + ush	Lesson 45
mush	m + ush	Lesson 45
blush	bl + ush	Lesson 45
plush	pl + ush	Lesson 45
slush	sl + ush	Lesson 45

The -ut family, as in but

10 words

The -ut family, as in but
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
but	b + ut	Lesson 17
cut	c + ut	Lesson 15
shut	sh + ut	Lesson 45
gut	g + ut	Lesson 16
hut	h + ut	Lesson 23
nut	n + ut	Lesson 15
jut	j + ut	Lesson 29
rut	r + ut	Lesson 24
glut	gl + ut	Lesson 26
strut	str + ut	Lesson 24

The -un family, as in fun

9 words

The -un family, as in fun
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
fun	f + un	Lesson 15
run	r + un	Lesson 24
sun	s + un	Lesson 15
nun	n + un	Lesson 15
pun	p + un	Lesson 15
stun	st + un	Lesson 15
bun	b + un	Lesson 17
shun	sh + un	Lesson 45
spun	sp + un	Lesson 15

The -ust family, as in just

9 words

The -ust family, as in just
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
just	j + ust	Lesson 29
must	m + ust	Lesson 15
trust	tr + ust	Lesson 24
bust	b + ust	Lesson 17
dust	d + ust	Lesson 15
thrust	thr + ust	Lesson 47
gust	g + ust	Lesson 16
rust	r + ust	Lesson 24
crust	cr + ust	Lesson 24

The -udge family, as in judge

9 words

The -udge family, as in judge
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
judge	j + udge	Lesson 70
fudge	f + udge	Lesson 70
budge	b + udge	Lesson 70
nudge	n + udge	Lesson 70
drudge	dr + udge	Lesson 70
grudge	gr + udge	Lesson 70
sludge	sl + udge	Lesson 70
smudge	sm + udge	Lesson 70
trudge	tr + udge	Lesson 70

The -ull family, as in dull

8 words

The -ull family, as in dull
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
dull	d + ull	Lesson 42
null	n + ull	Lesson 42
skull	sk + ull	Lesson 42
cull	c + ull	Lesson 42
gull	g + ull	Lesson 42
hull	h + ull	Lesson 42
lull	l + ull	Lesson 42
mull	m + ull	Lesson 42

The -unt family, as in hunt

7 words

The -unt family, as in hunt
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
hunt	h + unt	Lesson 23
punt	p + unt	Lesson 15
stunt	st + unt	Lesson 15
blunt	bl + unt	Lesson 26
brunt	br + unt	Lesson 24
grunt	gr + unt	Lesson 24
shunt	sh + unt	Lesson 45

The -unch family, as in lunch

7 words

The -unch family, as in lunch
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
lunch	l + unch	Lesson 48
bunch	b + unch	Lesson 48
punch	p + unch	Lesson 48
crunch	cr + unch	Lesson 48
hunch	h + unch	Lesson 48
munch	m + unch	Lesson 48
brunch	br + unch	Lesson 48

The -ud family, as in mud

6 words

The -ud family, as in mud
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
mud	m + ud	Lesson 15
bud	b + ud	Lesson 17
dud	d + ud	Lesson 15
spud	sp + ud	Lesson 15
stud	st + ud	Lesson 15
thud	th + ud	Lesson 47

The -us family, as in us

5 words

The -us family, as in us
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
us	(none) + us	Lesson 15
bus	b + us	Lesson 17
plus	pl + us	Lesson 26
thus	th + us	Lesson 46
pus	p + us	Lesson 15

The -umb family, as in dumb

5 words

The -umb family, as in dumb
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
dumb	d + umb	Lesson 98
numb	n + umb	Lesson 98
thumb	th + umb	Lesson 98
crumb	cr + umb	Lesson 98
plumb	pl + umb	Lesson 98

The -up family, as in up

4 words

The -up family, as in up
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
up	(none) + up	Lesson 15
cup	c + up	Lesson 15
pup	p + up	Lesson 15
sup	s + up	Lesson 15

The -ulk family, as in bulk

4 words

The -ulk family, as in bulk
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
bulk	b + ulk	Lesson 26
hulk	h + ulk	Lesson 26
sulk	s + ulk	Lesson 26
skulk	sk + ulk	Lesson 26

The -usk family, as in dusk

4 words

The -usk family, as in dusk
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
dusk	d + usk	Lesson 22
husk	h + usk	Lesson 23
musk	m + usk	Lesson 22
tusk	t + usk	Lesson 22

The -uss family, as in buss

3 words

The -uss family, as in buss
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
buss	b + uss	Lesson 42
fuss	f + uss	Lesson 42
puss	p + uss	Lesson 42

The -utch family, as in hutch

3 words

The -utch family, as in hutch
Word	Onset + rime	Readable after
hutch	h + utch	Lesson 69
clutch	cl + utch	Lesson 69
crutch	cr + utch	Lesson 69

Word ladder: change one sound at a time

Every step is a real word from the list, and each one changes exactly one sound. Say the change aloud before the student writes the new word.

Word ladder for Short u families
Step	Word	The change
1	up	start here
2	us	change /p/ to /s/
3	bus	add /b/
4	bug	change /s/ to /g/
5	but	change /g/ to /t/
6	buck	change /t/ to /k/
7	buss	change /k/ to /s/
8	bust	add /t/
9	just	change /b/ to /jh/
10	must	change /jh/ to /m/

How do you teach it?

Start with um, ug and ub, then move to uck, uff and ush, which add a two-letter ending. Teach ung and unk as chunks. Udge comes last, after the dge rule.

"The family is u-d-g-e, /uj/. The d is a guard letter for the short u. Let's read: nudge, budge, smudge, grudge. Every one has d-g-e."

What is the common error, and the fix?

Students write "buf" for buff or "juj" for judge. The fix is the spelling rule each family carries: floss for uff and ull, ck for uck, dge for udge.

Sort it: a hands-on activity

Mix cards from uff, uck and udge. Students sort by family, then circle the letters that come after the u in each family: ff, ck and dge.

How this list was built

Every word comes from our lexicon of about 19,000 common words, each checked against a pronouncing dictionary and split into spelling units. Words a student meets in our assessments and progress-monitoring probes are left out, so practicing a list never rehearses a test. A family is every one-syllable base word (no suffix, not a compound) whose rime, the vowel unit and every unit after it, has the same spelling and the same sounds, so bead and bread are in different families. Ladders use only words from the list, and each step changes exactly one sound.

"Readable after" is the first lesson in the lesson sequence at which our decodability engine finds every sound-spelling in the word taught; "not taught" means the word has a spelling the sequence does not cover, so it is read with help. You can check your own lists and passages with the free decodable text checker.

Questions people ask

How many short u word families are there?

In our lexicon, 24 rimes with the short u sound have at least three public one-syllable words, 211 words in all. Smaller families exist, but two words are not enough to practice a pattern.

Which short u families carry a spelling rule?

Uff and ull follow the floss rule, uck follows the ck rule, and udge follows the dge rule. Teaching the family and the rule together saves time.

Why teach word families at all?

Families let a student read many words from one chunk, which builds speed and confidence. They work best alongside sound-by-sound blending, so a student can still read a word when no family fits.