3rd Grade Spelling Bee Words

• 3rd grade
• 50 words, 3 levels
• Free printable list

Spelling bee words for 3rd grade, in three levels: 20 easy, 20 medium and 10 hard words. Expect silent letters, soft c and g, -tion endings and tricky words like Wednesday and February.

Spelling bees in 3rd grade

In 3rd grade, bees often become school-wide, and some schools pick spellers for district bees. Rules for adding endings, silent letters and words borrowed from other languages start to appear, so understanding why a word is spelled a certain way pays off. A speller who knows the doubling rule, for example, doesn't have to memorize hopping, stopped and swimming separately.

The words

Start with the easy list and move up when your child spells most of the words without help. In a real bee, words usually get harder each round.

Easy words (20 words, Round 1)

• castle
• puzzle
• bubble
• giant
• circle
• center
• knee
• knock
• write
• wrong
• thumb
• laugh
• eight
• weigh
• field
• piece
• cloudy
• sleepy
• careful
• quickly

Medium words (20 words, Rounds 2 and 3)

• adventure
• treasure
• measure
• question
• station
• vacation
• invention
• library
• surprise
• calendar
• chocolate
• strawberry
• umbrella
• volcano
• hamburger
• neighbor
• kitchen
• beginning
• unhappy
• rewrite

Hard words (10 words, Final rounds)

• necessary
• separate
• Wednesday
• February
• restaurant
• temperature
• especially
• thermometer
• encyclopedia
• enormous

How to study for a spelling bee

1. Five to ten words a day. Don't cram the whole list. Short daily sessions over two or three weeks work best.
2. Say, spell, write, check. Say the word, spell it out loud letter by letter, write it, then check it against the list.
3. Find the tricky part. In most hard words, only one or two letters are surprising. Point them out and make a memory trick, like those in commonly misspelled words.
4. Use the rules. Many words follow patterns: doubling, drop the e, i before e. Knowing the rule turns ten words into one idea.
5. Practice out loud. Bees are oral. Practice standing up, saying the word, spelling it clearly and saying the word again at the end.
6. Mock bee. A few days before, run a practice bee at home with the family. See how to run a home spelling bee.

Tip for 3rd grade: By 3rd grade, asking for the definition and a sentence (if the bee allows it) really helps with homophones and longer words.

Five words worth extra attention

These words from the lists trip up the most spellers at this level. The tricky part is explained for each.

• Wednesday: say it as written: Wed-nes-day.
• February: don't forget the r after b.
• necessary: one c, two s's: one collar, two sleeves.
• separate: there's a rat in sep-a-rate.
• restaurant: the au in the middle: rest-au-rant.

On the day of the bee

• Listen to the whole word before starting. Ask to hear it again if you're unsure.
• Ask for a sentence or definition if the bee allows it, especially for words that sound like other words.
• Picture the word written down before saying the first letter.
• Spell slowly and clearly. There's no prize for speed.
• If you're out, that's OK. Every speller misses a word eventually, even champions.

Practice quiz

Ten words from the medium and hard lists. Tap the right spelling.

1. 1.Which spelling is right?

   🔈
   necessary neccessary necesary
   Show answer

   necessary.

2. 2.Which spelling is right?

   🔈
   separate seperate separete
   Show answer

   separate.

3. 3.Which spelling is right?

   🔈
   Wednesday Wensday Wednsday
   Show answer

   Wednesday.

4. 4.Which spelling is right?

   🔈
   February Febuary Febrary
   Show answer

   February.

5. 5.Which spelling is right?

   🔈
   restaurant resturant restarant
   Show answer

   restaurant.

6. 6.Which spelling is right?

   🔈
   temperature temprature tempreture
   Show answer

   temperature.

7. 7.Which spelling is right?

   🔈
   especially expecially especialy
   Show answer

   especially.

8. 8.Which spelling is right?

   🔈
   thermometer thermomiter thermameter
   Show answer

   thermometer.

9. 9.Which spelling is right?

   🔈
   encyclopedia encyclopidia encyclapedia
   Show answer

   encyclopedia.

10. 10.Which spelling is right?

    🔈
    enormous enormus enourmous
    Show answer

    enormous.

Printable list

The free PDF has all 50 words on one US Letter page, grouped by level, so you can call out words for a practice bee or tick off the ones your child knows.

Other grades and practice

For weekly practice through the year, see the 3rd grade spelling lists. Every rule is on the spelling page, and all spelling bee lists are on the spelling bee words page.

Last reviewed: November 11, 2026

Questions parents ask