Difficult Spelling Words

There are difficult spelling words which you must learn to succeed in English spellings. Here at Spelling-Words-Well, we want to help you master these challenging words.

One set of particularly diffcult words are those that are spelled with the ei or ie vowel combination.  We've compiled a list of 285 for you study.   Some words on the list are useful for elementary students, others are appropriate for high school students, ESL students and adults.

Our step-by-step spelling lesson plans will help you master these tricky spelling words.  See more ideas, and links to more word lists, at the bottom of the page. 

Some other suggestions:

• Glance over the list to find words that you use frequently. Make sure you know how to spell those words first. 
• Keep a list of your most troublesome words on the fridge or write them on the outside of a folder. Review them frequently.
• Ask a friend to quiz you occasionally.
• Use the words in your written documents. Practice a lot!

Remember to check out our Step-By Step Lesson plan for mastering these ie/ei words. The lesson is adaptable for grades 5 and up, including ESL students and adults.

Teachers: Adapt the lesson for seat work, board work or homework.  

All students, (including ESL) and adults: Print out the list to use it and review it frequently. Just looking at the words will help you remember how the words should appear. Then when you write them incorrectly, they just might look funny to you. 

You might also be interested in these lists of difficult spelling words:

8th grade spelling words

9th grade spelling words