-unk Word Family: Word List & Practice
-unk 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 10 grade 1-level words plus 4 decodable sentences. Practice them out loud — the most common error is splitting '-unk' into separate n and k sounds.
- bunk
- dunk
- hunk
- junk
- sunk
- chunk
- drunk
- skunk
- spunk
- trunk
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.
- The skunk sat on a bunk.
- Dunk the trunk in the junk.
- A chunk of the sunk trunk.
- That skunk has spunk.
How to Teach -unk Word Family Words
The -unk family rounds out the nasal 'nk' endings your child has now seen across -ank and -ink, and 'skunk' and 'trunk' are two memorably concrete, fun words that tend to stick well for young readers. As with -ank and -ink, treat '-unk' as a single connected chunk rather than three separate letter sounds.
'Skunk' stacks a beginning blend onto the ending, making it a slightly more demanding word than 'bunk' or 'junk' — introduce it once your child is comfortable with the simpler words in this list, and consider it a good stopping point for a session focused purely on nasal endings.
Common Mistakes to Watch For
- Splitting '-unk' into separate n and k sounds
- Dropping the s in the beginning blend of 'skunk'
- Confusing -unk with -ank or -ink