ch words
CH words
The CH digraph is one consonant sound spelled with two letters, as in chip, lunch, and beach. CH appears at the start, middle, or end of a word — use the position filter below to see each group. Note that CH at the end of a word usually pairs with a -tch ending after a short vowel (catch, match).
Most common CH words
These are the highest-frequency words for this pattern — a good starting set for early readers. The full filterable list is below.
Word list
All CH words
Filter by syllable count, reading grade, or where the sound appears in the word, or search.
- whichWhich book do you want?3End
- muchI have too much homework.KEnd
- suchIt was such a fun day.KEnd
- eachGive each child a crayon.KEnd
- changeI have some change in my pocket.KBeginning
- childrenThe children played outside.1Beginning
- watchWatch the birds in the tree.KEnd
- checkCheck your work before you finish.KBeginning
- childEvery child got a sticker.KBeginning
- chanceGive me one more chance.KBeginning
- marchWe march in a straight line.KEnd
- churchWe walk to church on Sunday.KBeginning
- matchThese two socks match.KEnd
- changesHe changes his shirt after gym.1Beginning
- chiefThe fire chief gave a talk.KBeginning
- chinaThe cups are made of china.1Beginning
- frenchWe ate warm french bread.KEnd
- choiceIt is your choice to make.KBeginning
- changedShe changed her mind.KBeginning
- watchingWe are watching a movie.1Middle
- chineseWe ate chinese noodles.1Beginning
- coachThe coach cheered for us.1End
- searchWe will search for the lost ball.1End
- reachI can reach the top shelf.1End
- beachWe built castles at the beach.1End
- chooseChoose your favorite color.1Beginning
- richThe soup is rich and warm.1End
- touchDo not touch the hot stove.1End
- teacherMy teacher is very kind.1Middle
- catchLet's play catch with the ball.1End
- channelTurn the TV to the cartoon channel.1Beginning
- reachedShe reached for the apple.1Middle
- speechHe gave a short speech.1End
- chairmanThe chairman ran the meeting.1Beginning
- changingThe leaves are changing color.1Beginning
- teachersOur teachers planned a fun trip.1Middle
- teachingShe is teaching us to read.1Middle
- watchedWe watched the stars at night.1Middle
- cheapThe little toy was cheap.1Beginning
- chairSit down on the chair.1Beginning
- launchWe will launch the toy rocket.1End
- teachCan you teach me to swim?1End
- lunchWe eat lunch at noon.1End
- chainThe dog has a long chain.1Beginning
- chapterWe read one chapter each night.1Beginning
- kitchenMom cooks in the kitchen.1Middle
- chickenWe had chicken for dinner.1Beginning
- launchedThe rocket launched into the sky.1Middle
- championShe is the spelling champion.3Beginningmulti-syllable
- chosenHe was chosen for the team.1Beginning
- switchFlip the light switch.1End
- matchesThis hat matches my coat.1Middle
- branchA bird sat on the branch.1End
- achieveYou can achieve your goal.1Middle
- bunchI picked a bunch of flowers.1End
- chatWe had a friendly chat.1Beginning
- cheeseI like cheese on my bread.1Beginning
- choseShe chose the red one.1Beginning
- checkedHe checked under the bed.1Beginning
- attachedThe note was attached to the gift.1Middle
- chestHe kept toys in a wooden chest.1Beginning
- chancesWe have two chances left.1Beginning
- childhoodShe had a happy childhood.1Beginning
- championsThe champions held the trophy.3Beginningmulti-syllable
- achievedWe achieved our reading goal.2Middle
- challengesThe game has fun challenges.3Beginningmulti-syllable
- chocolateI love warm chocolate cake.2Beginning
- inchThe bug is one inch long.1End
- chamberThe cave had a large chamber.2Beginning
- reachingHe is reaching for the stars.2Middle
- pitchHe can pitch the ball fast.1End
- dutchWe saw a tall dutch windmill.1End
- benchWe sat on the park bench.1End
- searchingWe are searching for the cat.2Middle
- inchesThe plant grew three inches.2Middle
- stretchStretch your arms up high.1End
- punchWe drank fruit punch at the party.1End
- touchedShe gently touched the puppy.1Middle
- coachingHe is coaching the soccer team.2Middle
- coachesThe coaches cheered loudly.2Middle
- touchingStop touching the wet paint.2Middle
- catchingWe are catching bugs in the yard.2Middle
- patchShe sewed a patch on the jeans.1End
- couchWe sat on the soft couch.2End
- reachesHe reaches the top of the slide.2Middle
- scratchThe cat made a small scratch.2End
- switchedWe switched seats at lunch.2Middle
- breachThere was a breach in the wall.2End
- sandwichI ate a ham sandwich.2End
- purchasesMom made a few purchases.3Middlemulti-syllable
- matchingWe wore matching hats.2Middle
- watchesHe watches the clock.2Middle
- merchantThe merchant sold fresh fruit.2Middle
- achievementsWe are proud of our achievements.3Middlemulti-syllable
- purchasingDad is purchasing new shoes.3Middlemulti-syllable
- switchingWe are switching to a new game.2Middle
- achievingShe is achieving her dreams.3Middlemulti-syllable
- matchedThe two teams were evenly matched.2Middle
- launchingThey are launching a big balloon.2Middle
- touchesHe gently touches the soft cat.2Middle
No words match those filters. Try widening the grade or syllable range.
Printable
Make a worksheet
The worksheet uses whatever filters are active above — filter to a grade or syllable count first, then print. Each word gets a dotted tracing line.
By position
CH word groups
Beginning
Middle
End
For teachers & parents
Teaching CH words
CH is usually introduced right after SH in a structured-literacy sequence — late kindergarten or early grade 1. The CH-at-the-end rule (use -tch after a short vowel: catch, match, fetch; use -ch after a long vowel or consonant: beach, bunch, search) is taught in grade 2.
Common confusion: CH vs SH (see SH-words page); plus CH-as-/k/ in Greek-origin words (school, ache, Christmas) — those are not phonics-decodable and are taught as memorized exceptions in upper grades, not included in this list. Suggested activities: (1) a -tch / -ch sort drill; (2) picture-naming with CH initial / final words; (3) reading a short decodable passage using only CH + already-mastered patterns.
How this CH word list was built
Every word here contains the CH sound
(CH in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary,
spelled ch). Candidates are matched by phoneme,
frequency-filtered so the list stays to words children actually meet, and
tagged with a reading grade from the Dolch and Fry lists.
Decodability rule: phoneme_match AND zipf>=3.0 AND syllables<=2 AND !archaic
Each of the 100 words has an editor-written example sentence (10 words or fewer, written for grades K-3) so the word can be read in context.
- CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (CMUdict 0.7b)Public-domain phoneme transcriptions used to match each word to its sound pattern.
- wordfreq (word-frequency data)Zipf-frequency filter (>= 3.0) keeps the list to common, decodable words.
- Dolch sight words (1948) + Fry list (1980)Public-domain grade bands used to tag each word K-3.
Last reviewed: .
Keep going