Dolch 3rd Grade Sight Words
- 3rd grade
- 41 words
- Common Core RF.3.3d
The Dolch 3rd grade list is the last of the five grade-level lists. Its 41 words, like about, together, laugh, eight and myself, are longer and less common than the earlier lists, but they still show up often in chapter books.
The 41 Dolch 3rd Grade words
In alphabetical order. Teachers often present these words in lowercase, the way they appear in books.
- about
- better
- bring
- carry
- clean
- cut
- done
- draw
- drink
- eight
- fall
- far
- full
- got
- grow
- hold
- hot
- hurt
- if
- keep
- kind
- laugh
- light
- long
- much
- myself
- never
- only
- own
- pick
- seven
- shall
- show
- six
- small
- start
- ten
- today
- together
- try
- warm
About the Dolch 3rd Grade list
By 3rd grade, most of this list can be read with phonics: short vowels in cut, hot, if, pick, six, ten; blends in bring, drink, start, small; vowel teams in clean, keep, grow, show; and two-syllable words like better, carry, never, seven and myself.
A few still have tricky parts: laugh (augh says af), eight (eigh says long a), done (o says short u) and warm (ar says or). Many 3rd graders read these fine but still misspell them, so writing practice helps.
Children who finish the Dolch lists usually move on to the Fry word lists and to vocabulary work, where the focus shifts from reading words quickly to understanding what new words mean.
Heart words in this list
These words have a part that doesn't follow the sounds your child knows yet. Sound out the rest, then draw a heart over the tricky part and learn it by heart. See what are sight words? for the 5-step method.
| Word | The tricky part |
|---|---|
| laugh | augh says af |
| eight | eigh says long a |
| done | o says short u; e is silent |
| warm | ar says or |
| full | u says the oo in book |
| only | o says long o; y says long e |
| own | ow says long o |
| kind | i says long i without an e |
| together | o says short u (to-geth-er) |
| today | o says oo |
| carry | rr with a short a; y says long e |
Words to sound out instead of memorizing: cut, got, hot, if, pick, six, ten, bring, drink, start, small, clean, keep, grow, show, light, better, never, seven, myself, about, long, much, hurt. If your child knows the phonics pattern, teach these with phonics. It's faster, and the same skill works on thousands of other words.
Sentences to read
Every sentence below uses words from this list or earlier lists. Read them together, or let your child read them on their own once the words are familiar.
- We laugh together every day.
- Please bring me a clean cup.
- I can carry it myself.
- It is too hot to drink.
- Eight is better than seven.
- Hold on, the bag is full.
- Today we will draw and pick flowers.
- Keep the light on.
- Try to be kind.
- Never run far from home.
How to practice the 3rd Grade list
- Pick five words a week. At five a week, the whole list takes about 9 weeks. Mix one or two heart words with easier ones.
- Sound out first. For regular words, have your child blend the sounds. For heart words, sound out the regular parts and point to the tricky part.
- Flash daily. Use the flashcards from the PDF for one minute a day. A word counts as known when your child reads it in under three seconds, three days in a row.
- Find them in books. Before reading a book together, ask your child to spot this week's words on a page.
- Write them. Spelling a word out loud while writing it makes it stick much faster than reading alone.
Keep a "know it" pile and a "still learning" pile. Kids love watching the "know it" pile grow, and it shows you exactly which words need more practice.
Quiz: Dolch 3rd Grade words
Read each sentence and tap the word that fits. The speaker button reads the sentence aloud, without giving away the answer.
-
1.I have _____ fingers.
Show answer
ten: I have ten fingers.
-
2.Please _____ me the ball.
Show answer
bring: Please bring me the ball.
-
3.The soup is too _____.
Show answer
hot: The soup is too hot.
-
4.Can you _____ this heavy box?
Show answer
carry: Can you carry this heavy box?
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5.Turn on the _____.
Show answer
light: Turn on the light.
-
6.I did it all by _____.
Show answer
myself: I did it all by myself.
-
7.Plants _____ in the sun.
Show answer
grow: Plants grow in the sun.
-
8.Let's work _____.
Show answer
together: Let's work together.
-
9.Please be _____ to your sister.
Show answer
kind: Please be kind to your sister.
-
10.The clown made us _____.
Show answer
laugh: The clown made us laugh.
Printable list and flashcards
The free PDF has 5 US Letter pages: a checklist of all 41 words with a box to tick for each word your child knows, and 4 pages of large flashcards to cut out, 12 to a page. Print on card stock if you can.
More sight word lists
See every list, the 1,000 most common words and how sight words fit with phonics on the sight words page. For picture words to practice alongside this list, try the Dolch nouns. For the skills around this list, see the 3rd grade page.
Last reviewed: November 11, 2026
Questions parents ask
How many Dolch 3rd grade words are there?
41 words, from about, better and bring to today, together and warm.
Which 3rd grade sight words are tricky?
laugh, eight, done, warm and together have parts that don't sound the usual way.
What comes after the Dolch lists?
Many families move on to the Fry word lists and to vocabulary practice.
How many Dolch words are there in all?
220 words across the five grade lists, plus 95 nouns: 315 in total.
Are the Dolch words still used?
Yes. Many US schools still use the Dolch lists, often alongside the Fry lists, to choose which common words to practice first.