4th Grade Words With Silent Letters worksheets

About this worksheet

Words with silent letters require students to remember letters they do not hear when saying the word aloud matters in fourth grade because spelling work now connects word meaning, word parts, and editing accuracy. Fourth graders may spell only the sounds they pronounce, which leads to iland for island, dout for doubt, or autum for autumn. This worksheet keeps the focus on one spelling pattern at a time, and every wrong choice is a mistake a real speller might make, so children cannot get credit by ruling out silly answers. Students look at three spellings of the same word in a row and circle the one that keeps its silent letters, such as the k in knee, the b in lamb, the g in sign and the gh in night; support and standard sheets use everyday words, challenge adds longer ones like autumn, scissors and receipt.

Support versions use more familiar words and fewer choices. Standard versions add harder words, and challenge versions add longer words and the cases where the pattern does not apply. Ask your child to say the word, mark the meaningful part or spelling change, and then check whether the written form still matches the meaning. That process is slower than guessing, but it builds spelling habits that transfer to real writing.

What your child will learn

• Spot the silent letter in kn, wr, gn, mb, lk and gh words
• Spell words that include letters not pronounced
• Tell the right spelling from a spelling that follows the sound
• Avoid sound-only misspellings

Common Core standard: L.4.2.D