-ill Word Family: Word List & Practice
-ill Word Family words follow one repeating pattern, so a child who can read one of them has most of what they need to read the rest. This list has 13 kindergarten–grade 1-level words plus 4 decodable sentences. Practice them out loud — the most common error is trying to pronounce double letters as two separate sounds.
- bill
- fill
- hill
- mill
- pill
- will
- chill
- drill
- grill
- skill
- spill
- still
- thrill
Practice these words out loud
Have your child read these sentences to Word Wiz AI. It listens and shows exactly which sounds they missed, not just whether the word was right. Free, no sign-up needed to try.
Try these out loudDecodable Sentences
Every word in these sentences uses sounds your child has already learned, so they can be read by decoding rather than guessing.
- Bill will fill the hill.
- Spill the pill on the grill.
- Chill by the mill, then drill.
- The thrill was still a skill.
How to Teach -ill Word Family Words
The -ill family uses the same double-consonant spelling convention your child saw in -ell: two L's make just one /l/ sound. 'Will,' 'hill,' and 'fill' are common, familiar words that give an easy start before moving into digraph and blend words like 'chill,' 'drill,' 'grill,' 'skill,' 'spill,' 'still,' and 'thrill.'
'Still' and 'thrill' are among the more demanding words in this list — 'still' has a beginning blend plus the double-l ending, and 'thrill' stacks a digraph, a blend, and the ending together. Treat these as milestone words rather than starting points, and celebrate them once your child reads them smoothly.
Common Mistakes to Watch For
- Trying to pronounce double letters as two separate sounds
- Dropping consonants in more complex blend words like 'thrill'
- Confusing -ill with -ell