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3rd Grade  Vocabulary Words

a blue number three in crinkly font

Use this list of 200 3rd grade vocabulary words  throughout the year with the year with students in everyday conversations, in written assignments, and in subject-area instruction. Using these words regularly helps to enrich students' vocabularies.

Below my big list you'll find 100 of the words arranged in 10 categories and a second printable page.  I compiled these lists after consulting multiple textbooks and online resources. 

200   3rd Grade Vocabulary Words 

Printable list of 200  3rd grade vocabulary words

absorb

active

actual

address

advantage

agreeable

allowed/aloud

amazing

ambulance

antlers

avoid

badge

baggage

balance

balcony

banquet

bison

bleak

blood vessels

blotch

brain

brief

brilliant

cable

camouflage 

careless

carnival

cashier

caterpillar

cathedral

cellar

certain

chipmunk

clever

climate

close/clothes

coast

cocoon

complete

consider

contain

crumple

cube

custodian

cylinder

decay

decimals

deed

defend

denominator

describe

details

device

diagram

digestion

disappointed

disease

dusk

earlier

earlobe

easel

eaten

echo

effort

elegant

endangered

erosion

evaporation

event

examine

excuse

explore

fierce

fossil

foul/fowl

fright

gadget

gallery

garden

gasp

gecko

glacier

glee

grace

gradual

grasp

habit

harsh

heard/herd

helicopter

hinge

imitate

instant

intestines

invitation

irritate

jellyfish

journey

kazoo 

kidneys

knight

lamppost

landmark

launch

loyal

magician

magnificent

main/mane

marsh

measurement

method

mineral

moisture

mural

muscles

nectar

neighbor

nerves

numerator

nurse

nursery

observe

opposite

organ

oxen

pair/pear

paws/pause

peace/piece

peer/pier

perform

pianist

positive

predator

prevent

prey

primary 

prism

process

pyramid

quality

quarrel

quotient

rare

recall

rely

repair

respect

responsible

rhinoceros

ridiculous

schedule

scientist

security guard

similar

skull

skyscraper

slumber

solution

spacecraft

sphere

spinal cord 

squirrel

stair/stare

struggle

submarine

suitable

survey

symbol

tackle

threw/through

throne/thrown

tissue

tourist

tournament

tractor

triumph

typical

uncertain

unfasten

unite

unusual

urge

valuable

vanish

vast

vehicle

vertebrae

vessel

vision

volunteer

wagon

wander

wisdom

wit

yardstick

yield

yolk

yummiest

zinnia

zookeeper

Teacher's Tips:

As a former elementary classroom teacher, here are my suggestions for using this great big word list:

  • Introduce third graders to just 5-6 words at a time. Be sure to give plenty of context for each one.
  • Use a lot of repetition! Keep the new words on a word wall or classroom display for several days. This will remind all of you to use the words again and again during the week. 
  • Assign partners or small groups of students to learn about one word. Ask them to write 2-3 sentences using one of the vocabulary words to read to the rest of the class. Or, allow partners or small groups to present a mini-project centered around one of the words. For endangered, for example, they could list 10 endangered species and make a poster that includes pictures of the 10 animals.
  • See more ideas for using these vocab words for individual students.


Shorter List of 100 3rd Grade Vocabulary Words 

I've selected 100 words from the big list above and arranged them in useful categories that will help students quickly understand their meanings. Print copies of this list so that students can keep one in their desks or at home to review at their leisure.

Here's a peek at the printable page. The full version also appears below. 

100 3rd grade vocabulary words in categories

Remember, these are words that students in third grade should be comfortable using orally. They may not be able to read and write them at first. But you can help them work on those skills, too!  Does your child already know some of these words? That's great! Have fun using the words frequently in family or classroom discussions.

blue tractor

Transportation: tractor, wagon, ambulance, helicopter, submarine, spacecraft, vehicle, journey

Math: measurement, decimals, denominator, numerator, cylinder, sphere, cube, pyramid, prism, quotient

Science: predator, prey, endangered, decay, fossil, glacier, erosion, evaporation, climate, mineral

Human Body: tissue, organ, blood vessels, vertebrae, skull, kidneys, intestines, digestion, muscles, nerves, brain, spinal cord

young girl playing piano, with hearts coming out of piano

Foods: pianist, neighbor, security guard, nurse, cashier, custodian, scientist, tourist, knight, magician

Places: carnival, cathedral, skyscraper, landmark, cellar, gallery, garden, balcony

Homophone Sets: allowed/aloud, peace/piece, close/clothes, heard/herd, main/mane, peer/pier, throne/thrown, paws/pause, pair/pear, foul/fowl, stair/state, threw/through 

Adjectives: brief, brilliant, clever, disappointed, loyal, rare, responsible, ridiculous, unusual, valuable 

cartoon purple fuzzy caterpillar

Verbs: slumber, describe, repair, explore, wander, perform, avoid, recall, struggle, triumph 

Animals: caterpillar, jellyfish, chipmunk, rhinoceros, oxen, squirrel, cocoon, bison, antlers, camouflage 


Do you want MORE words?

This 3rd grade vocabulary word list is certainly not complete! Feel free to add even more 3rd grade homophones, math and science words, animal words and more! 

How to Use These Vocabulary Words:

Choose from these extension activities to give your child/students extra practice using words from the 3rd grade vocabulary word list. Add more activities of your own. 

Smiling animated pencil

1) Write three sentences to answer one or more of these questions:

  • Write about a time when you triumphed over a difficulty.
  • Write about your favorite neighbor
  • Describe a fossil you have seen or would like to see. 
  • Would you rather ride in a helicopter or a submarine? Why?

2) Work with a partner or family helper to write a story using at least 8 words on the list. Draw at least one picture about the story. 

3) Write one sensible sentence that uses three words from the list that begin with the same letter. 


More Third Grade Resources

3rd grade writing prompts

Third Grade Writing Prompts, Set 1 - This list of twelve 3rd grade writing prompts include: What's the best way to spend one dollar? Write a short poem about a bear with a pear.  Why are you happy to hear someone's voice at your front door? Whose voice is it? 


Barrel of monkeys from our Scrambled Animals crossword at www.spelling-words-well.com

Scrambled Animals - This puzzle is more fun than a barrel of monkeys! Simply unscramble each animal word and write it in the crossword.

Third Grade Worksheets

Put Words in Alphabetical Order worksheet, great for third graders

Put Words In Alphabetical Order with this pair of engaging worksheets. The first list features 25 fun foods that must be alphabetized by their first and second letters. The second page requires students to look at the third and fourth letters in a list of five letter words that all begin with W. Challenging!

Mystery In the Attic Spelling Worksheets:  Kids read a humorous story about a mysterious attic as they choose correctly/incorrectly spelled words.

See our entire collection of Phonics Games & Activities. You're sure to find something just right for the skills your kids need to practice!

Find lots more Spelling Worksheets for Grade 3 on our website!


All Vocabulary Lists

First grade vocabulary words from www.spelling-words-well.com

Kindergarten Vocabulary Words - 175 engaging, empowering vocabulary words, in alphabetical order, that every kindergartner should be learning. Use our convenient printable page. A second list features 100 of the words in helpful categories such as shapes, feelings, community helpers and more. 

First Grade Vocabulary Words - 175 great vocab words on a variety of topics for 1st grade students to learn to use in conversation, along with suggested activities. 100 words appear in meaningful categories including sports, animals, compound words and more. 

Second Grade Vocabulary Words : 200 words for 2nd grade students to learn and enjoy! 100 of the words are arranged in helpful categories and are arranged on an engaging printable for your students. Challenge your second graders with more words to use in their speaking and written vocabularies.

3rd grade vocabulary 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. 

4th Grade Vocabulary Words - 200 4th grade vocab words to keep your students on track all year long! Half of the words are also arranged in meaningful categories to help students with word meaning. 

5th Grad Vocabulary Words

5th Grade Vocabulary Words - Boost your fifth graders' spoken and written vocabularies with this BIG list of 200 words, arranged in alphabetical order. I've also selected 100 of these words to put into 10 engaging topics. Try the extension activities for best results!

6th Grade Vocabulary Words - Improve your students' understanding of LOTS of areas of learning by covering these 200 important words! I've included many ways to put these words into use, and I have links to other related pages, too!

7th Grade Vocabulary Words - Here are 240 challenging words to stretch your upper grade students this year! Follow all the tips and extra activities listed to get the most out of this mega list of vocabulary words!

NEW! 8th Grade Vocabulary Words - Stretch your own vocabulary as well as your students' with this challenging list of 250 words! Lots of extension activities are also included. 


These are lists of spelling words that you may wish to explore with your student. 

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.


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