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3rd Grade Spelling Bee Words

3rd Grade Spelling Bee Words

Try our list of 3rd grade spelling bee words for your next classroom competition. This handy list of 100 words is the foundation for a great spelling game. If you require additional words, check out some of these graded word lists

Review these words carefully to be sure they are suitable for your students. Then print the words and start your spelling bee!

More than half of the words come from our list of 300 third grade spelling words.  The remaining words are more challenging. We've generally arranged the words from easiest to most difficult.

Printable version of 3rd Grade Spelling Bee Words

1.       bear

2.       food

3.       once

4.       boxes

5.       alike

6.       shopping

7.       almost

8.       keep

9.       smiled

10.      along

11.      anyone

12.      planning

13.      done

14.      coming

15.      arm

16.      babies

17.      goose

18.      sadness

19.      meal

20.      bedtime

21.      sickness

22.      behind

23.      maybe

24.      bench

25.      pancake

26.      helpful

27.      jeans

28.      thanks

29.      should

30.      thirst

31.      pushes

32.      butter

33.      matches

34.      rocket

35.      carries

36.       price

37.       chair

38.       drawing

39.       change

40.       fired

41.       cheese

42.       city

43.       clothes

44.       forgot

45.      coach

46.      shirt

47.      crackers

48.      afternoon

49.      cried

50.      trying

51.      unsafe

52.      crumb

53.      doctor

54.      enjoy

55.      everyday

56.      goldfish

57.      delight

58.      haircut

59.      heart

60.      mouth

61.      quickly

62.      hobbies

63.      homework

64.      lightly

65.      huge

66.      jellyfish

67.      knee

68.      ladybug

69.      true

70.      lamb

71.       lesson

72.       soap

73.       lively

74.       strong

75.       noise

76.       please

77.       rainstorm

78.       return

79.       angry

80.      sparkle

81.      squirt

82.      studies

83.      bounce

84.      surely

85.      chipmunk

86.      video

87.      visiting

88.      measure

89.      watched

90.      tighten

91.      cheerfully

92.      plumber

93.      although

94.      believe

95.      neighborhood

96.      gigantic

97.      caterpillar

98.      surrounded

99.      temperature

100.      ridiculous


You may wish to adjust our list for your specific group of students. Feel free to use additional easier words, or insert some more difficult ones.

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 Tips for Practicing Spelling Bee Words

1) Be sure students are well-prepared for spelling bee competitions. Give them plenty of spelling practice throughout the year. Use spelling games and other activities.

2) Use these tips for How to Practice Spelling Words.

3) Encourage students to set goals for the number of words they want to learn each week. They should also set goals for the time they want to spend each day in study.

4) Kids should keep personal notebooks of the words they want to learn.

5) Be sure to use our 3rd grade spelling bee words in sentences when quizzing students. This is especially important with homonyms. For instance, you're, should be clarified so it won't be confused with your:  You're the first person to arrive at the party. 

6) Instruct students to look up each word in a dictionary, either online or hard copy. Show them how to read the most prominent definitions as well as the secondary meanings. Note carefully any tricky letters or letter combinations. Encourage them to write particularly difficult words ten times each in a special notebook. Remind them to review the words in their notebooks regularly. 

During the Spelling Bee...

  • Pronounce each word clearly.
  • Use the correctly in a sentence that conveys its meaning.
  • Allow students to ask you to repeat a word, if necessary.
  • Acknowledge all participants. Reward the winners!

We also have spelling bee lists for:


Third Grade Spelling Resources

3rd grade spelling words - 200 words that third graders learn because they will be using them this year! These words are used throughout my games, worksheets and activities. Your students will find them throughout their subject matter texts as well. 

3rdgrade vocabulary word list

3rd Grade Vocabulary Words   200 words to boost your child's spoken and written language skills, arranged alphabetically!  Print the complete list from the web page for best results. 100 of the words also appear in an engaging printable, arranged by helpful topics. 

Tricky Elementary Spelling Words - Students in grades 2-5 sometimes need extra practice with these 100 commonly misspelled words. Use these frequently in homework and board work to strengthen your students' spelling skills.

Writing prompts for 3rd grade

Assign some third grade writing prompts! These writing prompts for 3rd grade ask:  If you joined the circus, what act would you like to do? Do you like to wear matched socks? Why or why not? Why were you not afraid of the giant who walked into your classroom? Set contains 12 prompts in all. Each one uses at least one 3rd grade spelling word.


More 3rd Grade Spelling Bee Words & Helps

Spelling Bee Toolbox for Grades 3-5
Spelling Bee Toolbox for Grades 6-8

Need more words with sentences, rules, award certificates, and lots of organizational tips? Please consider purchasing our exclusive Spelling Bee Toolbox, for grades 3-5 and grades 6-8. Each one contains 600 grade-appropriate bee words, used in sentences, and all the resources you need for a successful spelling bee! Learn more.

NEW!  Spelling Mugs!  Reward your spelling bee winners or your hard-working spellers anytime with our own Spelling Words Well mugs or T-Shirts!

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Author Ann Richmond Fisher

Ann Richmond Fisher is a longtime published educational writer, a former classroom teacher and a former homeschool teacher. Ann's spelling bee resources, graded spelling word lists, spelling games, worksheets, and other language arts resources have become respected around the globe since she launched Spelling-Words-Well in 2010.

Ann is also the creator of www.word-game-world.com.


  1. Spelling Words Well
  2. Bee Words
  3. 3rd Grade Spelling Bee Words
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Spelling Bee Toolbox cover

Spelling Bee Toolboxes for Grades 3/5 and  6/8    All the resources you need for a successful bee!

Visit my YouTube Channel for fun spelling practice videos!



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Gigantic Spelling Bee Word Lists with definitions, sentences and languages


Spelling Bee Toolbox Gr 35

Spelling Bee Toolboxes for Grades 3/5 and 6/8   All the resources you need for a successful bee! 


monumental grade 56 cover

Monumental Spelling Bee Word Lists for grades 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8 with definitions, sentences and languages


mammoth grade 34 cover

Mammoth Spelling Bee Word Lists  for grades 3/4, 5/6 and 7/8  with sentences, definitions, and languages


Young Spellers cover

Young Spellers Spelling Bee Word List for Grades 1 & 2 only 


100 Diff Words Vol 1

100 Difficult Spelling Bee Words with Definitions, Sentences and Pronunciations, Volumes 1 and 2


600 Spelling Bee Words list

600 Spelling Bee Words & Sentences for Gr 3/5 & 6/8 Extra words & sentences at two levels


Anyword Spelling Practice eBooks from www.spelling-words-well.com

AnyWord Spelling Practice Series   Fun Worksheets, games & prompts that work with almost ANY spelling words!

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Also Available On Amazon!

The Spelling Bee Toolboxes are available in hard copy on Amazon:

Spelling Bee Toolbox Gr 35 cover 275 px

Grades 3-5

Spelling Bee Toolbox cover 68

Grades 6-8

Fun Spelling worksheets

Fun Spelling Worksheets for Grades 1 & 2

(Cover may vary)