The Second 100 Most Common Words

Words 101 to 200 on our list of the most common words: back, come, before, because, home, house, always, again. Once a child knows the first 100, this list fills in most of the remaining small words in a typical 1st grade book.

Print the list and flashcards (PDF) Kids: take the quiz All sight word lists

Words 101 to 200, most common first

The number shows each word's place on the full list of 1,000. 54 of these words are also on the Dolch lists.

About this list

This group has more "real" words than the first 100: house, home, money, father, night, hand, boy. It also has some of the most commonly misspelled words in early writing, like because, does, again and once.

With 1st grade phonics, most of these can be sounded out: blends in best, must, found, help, left; digraphs in thing, think, why, those, things; silent e in made, take, came, home, same; and vowel teams in keep, night, away, boy.

Most children learn this list in 1st grade. If a word is new and can be sounded out, sound it out together first, then add it to the flashcard pile for speed.

Heart words in this list

These words have a part that doesn't follow the sounds your child knows yet. Sound out the rest and learn the tricky part by heart. See what are sight words? for the method.

WordThe tricky part
comeo says short u; e is silent
becauseau says short u; se says z
doesoe says short u
doneo says short u
givei is short even with the e
wanta says short o
againai says short e
manya says short e
oncesounds like wuns
throughough says oo
enoughough says uff
moneyo says short u; ey says long e
loveo says short u
fathera says ah
putu says the oo in book
worldor says er
sures says sh

Words to sound out instead of memorizing: back, us, off, best, must, help, left, found, thing, think, why, made, take, came, home, same, keep, night, away, boy, long, still, went, big.

Sentences to read

Each sentence uses words from this list. Read them together, then let your child try alone.

  1. Come back home before night.
  2. I want to give my father a hug.
  3. We found three big things.
  4. Please help me look for it.
  5. Why does the boy go away?
  6. Put it under the old house.
  7. I love this place so much.
  8. Once again, we were right.
  9. Is that enough money?
  10. Keep going, you are the best!

How to practice

  1. Five words a week. Pick three to five new words each week and mix in one heart word.
  2. Sound out first. Blend the sounds of regular words. For heart words, sound out the regular parts and point to the tricky part.
  3. One minute of flashcards a day. A word is known when your child reads it in under three seconds, three days running.
  4. Find the words in books. Before reading together, hunt for this week's words on a page.
  5. Write them. Spell each new word out loud while writing it. It sticks far faster than reading alone.

Quiz: second 100 most common words

Read each sentence and tap the word that fits. The speaker button reads the sentence aloud, without giving away the answer.

  1. 1.Please _____ here.

    Show answer

    come: Please come here.

  2. 2.I _____ a new book.

    Show answer

    want: I want a new book.

  3. 3.We ate _____ we were hungry.

    Show answer

    because: We ate because we were hungry.

  4. 4.Where _____ she live?

    Show answer

    does: Where does she live?

  5. 5.My _____ is tall.

    Show answer

    father: My father is tall.

  6. 6.Can you _____ me a hand?

    Show answer

    give: Can you give me a hand?

  7. 7.I have _____ toys.

    Show answer

    many: I have many toys.

  8. 8._____ upon a time, there was a king.

    Show answer

    Once: Once upon a time, there was a king.

  9. 9.Turn the light _____.

    Show answer

    off: Turn the light off.

  10. 10.I am _____ hungry!

    Show answer

    too: I am too hungry!

Printable list and flashcards

The Second 100 Most Common Words printable checklist, page 1

The free PDF has 10 US Letter pages: a numbered checklist of all 100 words with a box to tick for each word your child knows, and 9 pages of large flashcards to cut out, 12 to a page. Print on card stock if you can.

Download the PDF Make custom flashcards

How this list was made

This is English1to5's own list. We ranked words by how often they appear in classic public-domain children's books and in everyday English (word frequencies from the open wordfreq project by Robyn Speer, CC BY-SA 4.0), then removed names, single letters and topics that don't suit a children's list. The list is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license, so teachers are welcome to reuse it with credit.

More word lists

← First 100 Most Common Words Third 100 Most Common Words →

For lists grouped by grade, see the Dolch lists. For older readers, see words 501 to 1000. All lists are on the sight words page.

Last reviewed: November 11, 2026

Questions parents ask

What are the second 100 most common words?

Words 101 to 200 on English1to5's list of the 1,000 most common words for young readers, starting with back, us, where, come, before.

How was this list made?

We ranked words by how often they appear in classic children's books and in everyday English, then removed names and topics that don't suit kids. It's similar in spirit to the Fry Instant Words, but it's our own list.

Is this the same as the Fry list?

No. The Fry Instant Words are a separate, published list. Ours was made independently, so the order differs, but the most common words overlap a lot.

How many of these words are on the Dolch lists?

54 of these 100 words are also on the five Dolch grade lists.

How fast should my child learn these words?

About five new words a week works well for most children, with daily review. At this level, the whole list takes about 20 weeks at that pace.