Word List
Ch Words
Ch is a digraph, two letters that spell one sound. Chip has four letters and three sounds. Below are the words that start with ch and the words that end with it, each with its own worksheets, plus the words where ch says something else entirely.
- chip
- much
- chop
- rich
- chin
- such
- chat
- which
- chest
- inch
- chick
- ouch
- chair
- each
- cheese
- branch
Ch is a digraph: two letters that spell one sound. There is no c sound and no h sound in chip, only the one sound the pair makes together, which is why chip has four letters and three sounds, ch, i and p.
Ch is usually taught right after sh, and the two get mixed up more than any other pair, because your mouth makes them in almost the same place. The difference is that sh is a steady stream of air you can hold for as long as you like, and ch is a single burst you cannot.
What sound does ch make?
Ch makes one sound, and it is the same at the start of chip and the end of much. Put the tip of your tongue just behind your top teeth, build up a little air behind it, and let it go in one burst. It is the sound a train makes.
The test that separates ch from sh is whether you can hold it. Say “shhhhhh” and you can keep going until you run out of breath. Try the same with ch and you cannot: it stops itself. Give your child both and let them try. A child who can feel that difference stops guessing between the two.
If your child says ship for chip, or the other way round, that is the most common mix-up at this stage and it is worth a minute of listening practice before any more reading. Say the two words one after the other, then ask which one they heard, without showing them the letters.
Where does ch appear in a word?
Ch turns up at the start and at the end of words, and at the end it often follows another sound.
| Where the ch is | Examples |
|---|---|
| Start of a word | chip, chop, chair, chick, cheese |
| End of a word | much, rich, such, inch, each |
| After n | branch, bunch, crunch, munch |
| Middle of a word | kitchen, teacher, chicken |
Much, rich, such and which are the four to know first. They are common enough that a beginning reader meets them constantly, and all four are short. They are also the four that break the spelling rule below, which is a good reason to learn them as words rather than as examples of anything.
When does ch sound like k or sh?
Ch spells three different sounds in English, and the one in chip is by far the most common. The other two turn up in words your child will meet in books long before anyone explains them, which is why a child who has only been told “ch says ch” reads school as “shool” and stops.
Ch says k in words that came into English from Greek. School, Christmas, chorus, ache, stomach, echo, character. These are worth recognizing rather than drilling: there is no rule a six-year-old can apply, and the words are learned one at a time as they come up.
Ch says sh in words that came into English from French. Chef, machine, parachute, chute, Michelle. There are fewer of these, and they arrive later.
Say the most common one first and the others as exceptions. If your child meets school and tries the ch from chip, you do not need the history. Tell them this one is a word where ch says k, and move on. The pattern to protect is the one that works nine times out of ten.
Ch or tch?
Both spell the same sound, and a short vowel decides which one you use: tch straight after a short vowel, ch everywhere else. Catch and match, but lunch and beach.
The rule and its word list are already on this site, so this page does not repeat them: the tch word list has those words family by family with their own worksheets, the spelling rules guide explains the rule, and the 2nd grade -ch and -tch words sort the two spellings against each other. Much, rich, such and which break it, which is the other reason to learn those four as words.
How should you use these ch worksheets?
Start with the words that begin with ch, and stay there until they are easy. A sound at the front of a word is easier to hear than the same sound at the end, and ch at the end almost always has another sound leaning on it (branch, bunch, crunch), which makes it harder again.
Start here once your child can read CVC words like cat and sit without stopping, and ideally once sh is solid, so there is only one new pair at a time. Teaching one pattern at a time in a planned order is what the National Reading Panel’s 2000 report calls systematic phonics, and the panel found it helps children from kindergarten through sixth grade.
Within each section the sheets run easiest first: read the word cards together, then the sound boxes, where ch goes in one box because it is one sound. The picture cards come next. When both positions are easy, the mixed review at the bottom of this page brings them together: a word sort that asks the only question a ch word raises once the sound is known, does the ch come first or last, then a handwriting sheet with all sixteen words on one page, then the word search.
For a child who stalls on blending ch into a word, the ch nonsense word drill cards mix real and made-up words.
Ch or sh: telling them apart
If your child reads chip as ship, the problem is almost never the letters. It is that the two sounds are made in nearly the same place, and one of them has not been heard clearly on its own yet.
Three things fix it faster than explaining:
- Hold one and not the other. Sh stretches, ch stops. Do it out loud, exaggerated.
- Say pairs and ask which. Chip and ship, chop and shop, chin and shin, cheese and she’s. No letters on the table, just listening.
- Sort them once they can hear it. The word sort on sh words and the one on this page do the same job in writing, and a mixed pile of both is the version that proves it.
Some children also say one for the other, which is a speech question rather than a reading one. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association says most children can say almost all speech sounds correctly by age 4, and recommends talking to a speech-language pathologist if you are worried. A child can read ch words perfectly well while their own ch is still settling.
Which words start with ch?
Every word here starts with the same single burst of sound. Chip, chop, chin: the mouth does the same thing at the front of all three, and none of them has a c sound or an h sound in it.
Start with the first four. Chip, chop, chin and chat are three sounds each, so the sound boxes give ch one box and every other letter one of its own. That is the clearest picture of what a digraph is that a child will get, and it is worth doing before anything longer.
The last four carry a second pattern besides the ch. Cheek and cheese have a vowel team, chair has a vowel changed by the r after it, and cherry ends in a y doing a vowel’s job. Your child does not need to have learned any of those to read the words, which is why they are on the cards and not in the sound boxes.
- chip
- chop
- chin
- chat
- chest
- chick
- chimp
- chill
- cheek
- chair
- cheese
- cherry
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Printables for Words That Start With Ch
- Words That Start With Ch: Word Cards (PDF)12 cards · 2 pages
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- Words That Start With Ch: Sound Boxes (PDF)8 words · answer key included · 2 pages
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- Words That Start With Ch: Trace and Write (PDF)12 words · 2 pages
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- Words That Start With Ch: Handwriting Practice (PDF)12 words · 2 pages
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Which words end in ch?
Ch at the end of a word is the same sound as ch at the start. Much ends the way chip begins. What has changed is where your child has to listen, and the end of a word is the harder place.
Much, rich, such and which come first, and they are worth knowing cold. A beginning reader meets all four constantly. They are also the four that break the tch spelling rule, so learning them as whole words now saves an argument later.
The last five are the test. Munch, punch, bunch, branch and crunch each put another sound right before the ch. A child who can put munch in four sound boxes, m-u-n-ch, has understood the difference between letters that blend and letters that merge, which is the idea the whole digraph set is built on.
Ouch and each are the odd pair here: both are two sounds, a vowel team and then the ch. They are on the list because a child meets them early, not because they are typical.
- much
- rich
- such
- which
- inch
- ouch
- each
- munch
- punch
- bunch
- branch
- crunch
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Printables for Words That End in Ch
- Words That End in Ch: Word Cards (PDF)12 cards · 2 pages
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- Words That End in Ch: Sound Boxes (PDF)12 words · answer key included · 4 pages
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- Words That End in Ch: Word Search (PDF)12 words · answer key included · 2 pages
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Mixed review: printables for the whole list
Every sheet below is built from the Ch Words above. No account, no email, no watermark. Start at the top and print one at a time. The sheets are in teaching order, and ten minutes on a single sheet is more valuable than working through a stack on autopilot.
- Ch Word Cards (PDF)16 cards · 2 pages
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- Ch Word Sort (PDF)8 words · answer key included · 2 pages
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- Ch Words: Handwriting Practice (PDF)16 words · 2 pages
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- Ch Words: Sentence Completion (PDF)16 sentences · answer key included · 6 pages
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- Ch Word Search (PDF)16 words · answer key included · 2 pages
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What comes after ch words?
Th is the one that takes longest, because the same two letters spell two different sounds, and after that the digraphs are finished and the blends begin.
- Words with th: both th sounds, each with its own list and its own worksheets
- Sh words: the pair ch is most often confused with, with its own lists and sheets
- 1st grade digraph words: sh, ch, th and wh together, three sounds a word
- Tch words: the same sound spelled tch, family by family, with its own worksheets
- 2nd grade -ch and -tch words: the sort that puts the two spellings side by side
- Silent-e words: the pattern that comes after the digraphs and the blends
If your child is still working out short words like cat and hop, go back to CVC words for a week or two first.
Frequently asked questions
What sound does ch make?
Ch makes one sound, the sound at the start of chip and the end of much. Put the tip of your tongue just behind your top teeth, build up a little air, and let it go in one burst. It is the sound a train makes.
What words start with ch?
Chip, chop, chin, chat, chest, chick, chimp, chill, cheek, chair, cheese and cherry are a good starter set. Start with chip, chop, chin and chat, which are three sounds each.
What words end in ch?
Much, rich, such, which, inch, ouch and each are the short ones a beginning reader meets constantly, and munch, punch, bunch, branch and crunch put another sound just before the ch. Much, rich, such and which are worth learning cold.
Why does ch sometimes sound like k?
Because those words came into English from Greek, where the Romans wrote the letter chi as c plus h. School, Christmas, chorus, ache, stomach and echo all take that sound. There is no rule a young child can apply, so these are learned one word at a time as they come up. The ch in chip is much the more common one.
Why does ch sometimes sound like sh?
In a smaller group of words that came into English from French, ch spells the sh sound. Chef, machine, parachute and chute are the ones a child is most likely to meet, and they usually arrive later than the Greek group.
When do you use tch instead of ch?
Straight after a short vowel you use tch, and everywhere else you use ch: catch and match, but lunch and beach. Much, rich, such and which break the rule, which is one more reason to learn those four as whole words.
How do I stop my child mixing up ch and sh?
Teach the difference by ear before you show the letters. Sh is a steady stream of air you can hold for as long as you like; ch is a single burst that stops itself. Say pairs and ask which one they heard, with no letters in front of them, and the reading follows without much argument.
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