Word Families Bingo Card Generator
Print free Word Families bingo cards from 37 entries such as -ug, -all and -ate. Each 5x5 card with a free center holds 24 of them, so every card in a set is different; with 30 players the first line usually comes after about 11 calls, roughly 2 minutes at 10 seconds a call.
| B | I | N | G | O |
|---|---|---|---|---|
-ing | -ump | -unk | -op | -ice |
-all | -ell | -ash | -est | -ay |
-uck | -ight | FREE | -eat | -ine |
-ide | -ame | -ain | -ill | -ip |
-ate | -an | -ore | -ink | -ug |
Free: up to 30 different cards per set. Pro: up to 1,000.
Free sets stop at 30 different cards. Your 30 cards are ready to print or download now.
Pro ($19 one-time) opens soon: up to 1,000 different cards per set and 2 or 4 cards on a PDF page. No payment is taken now.
Edit words (37)
Cards update as you type. Long entries shrink to fit their square; a very long single word is split over two lines with a hyphen (up to 40 characters each). The PDF uses a built-in font: emoji and non-Latin scripts print best with Print cards.
Caller sheet
Every call in a shuffled order. Tick each one as you read it out; the same share link always gives the same order.
Updated
About Word Families bingo
Word Families Bingo puts rimes on the card instead of whole words: the 37 common phonograms listed by Wylie and Durrell, from “-ack” and “-ain” to “-ight”, “-ump” and “-unk”. The caller reads a word, such as snack or flight, and players find its family. It suits first and second grade phonics and ESL learners, because each rime unlocks many words at once.
37 entries make up this Word Families set. With 24 per card, any single one, -unk for example, appears on about 65% of the cards, so in a room of 30 players around 19 of them have it.
A host reads out one entry at a time from the printed caller sheet (all 37 of them, shuffled); players daub the square if their card has it and call bingo on a full line.
All 37 Word Families bingo words
Every entry from -ack to -unk, grouped by first letter. Edit them in the generator above: drop -all if it does not suit your group, or add your own.
- 0-9 and symbols: -ack, -ain, -ake, -ale, -all, -ame, -an, -ank, -ap, -ash, -at, -ate, -aw, -ay, -eat, -ell, -est, -ice, -ick, -ide, -ight, -ill, -in, -ine, -ing, -ink, -ip, -it, -ock, -oke, -op, -ore, -ot, -uck, -ug, -ump, -unk
Word Families bingo at a glance
| Entries | 37 single words |
|---|---|
| Card | 5x5 card with a free center: 24 of the 37 |
| How it is played | A caller reads the shuffled caller sheet |
| Different cards possible | about 2.21 × 10³³ (order matters) |
| Different selections | 3,562,467,300 sets of 24 entries |
| Shortest entry | -an (3 characters) |
| Longest entry | -ight (5 characters) |
| Good for | Kids, classrooms and ESL lessons |
| Category | Language arts & ESL (61 themes) |
How long Word Families bingo lasts
This list was simulated 150 times in random call orders on its first 60 cards. A room of 30 usually has a line by call 11, which is about 2 minutes at 10 seconds a call, and a full card by call 34 of 37.
| Players | First line | Line, 80% range | Blackout | Blackout, 80% range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 players | 14 calls | 9-17 | 35 calls | 34-36 |
| 30 players | 11 calls | 8-14 | 34 calls | 33-35 |
| 60 players | 10 calls | 7-12 | 34 calls | 32-34 |
| 1 card (exact average) | - | - | 36.5 calls | of 37 |
How to host Word Families bingo
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Print the Word Families cards
Give each player one card; a free set prints up to 30, no two alike. Card 1 above starts with -ing, -ump, -unk, -op and -ice.
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Print the caller sheet
All 37 entries appear on it in shuffled order, opening with -ick, -an, -ate, -ash and -ug; tick each one as you read it out.
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Call a different word for the same rime each round, black one time and track the next, so players learn to listen for “-ack” rather than memorize one word.
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Ask the player who marks a square to name one more word in that family; “-ight” and “-ill” are easy, “-oke” and “-ale” take more thought.
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Write every called word on the board under its rime so that by the end the class has a word wall built from “-at”, “-ing” and the rest.
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Call until someone shouts bingo
With 30 cards, expect the first line near call 11 (-ight in this set's order) and a blackout near call 34; check the winner's squares against your ticked list.
Word Families bingo variations
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Word Families variation
Family reunion: when a square is marked, players have ten seconds to call out as many words from that family as they can, such as cat, flat and chat for “-at”. The longest list earns a bonus square.
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Blackout round
Card 1 needs all 24 squares, -ing to -ug; on average one card fills after 36.5 of the 37 calls (99% of the deck).
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Quick 4x4 round
A 4x4 card needs 16 of the 37 entries and no free space; one card is full after about 35.8 calls instead of 36.5.
First 15 calls of this Word Families set
Seed "word-families" gives this order, the same one the caller sheet prints. With these calls, card 4 of the first 30 completes the diagonal from the top right (-ick, -ight, -it and -est) on call 13, and card 10 is the first full card on call 34.
| Call | Entry | Cards marked (of 30) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | -ick | 23 of 30 |
| 2 | -an | 19 of 30 |
| 3 | -ate | 16 of 30 |
| 4 | -ash | 20 of 30 |
| 5 | -ug | 20 of 30 |
| 6 | -est | 23 of 30 |
| 7 | -in | 16 of 30 |
| 8 | -ide | 23 of 30 |
| 9 | -ot | 16 of 30 |
| 10 | -ain | 21 of 30 |
| 11 | -ight | 21 of 30 |
| 12 | -ock | 19 of 30 |
| 13 | -it | 17 of 30 |
| 14 | -eat | 17 of 30 |
| 15 | -ill | 19 of 30 |
Themes like Word Families bingo
Ranked by category, occasion and audience; none of them repeats an entry from this list, so pasting two into the Edit words box gives a longer game.
Closest word lists
Frequently asked questions
How many words are on the Word Families bingo list?
37, from -ack to -unk. A 5x5 card with a free center uses 24 of them, so each card leaves out 13. The shortest entry is -an (3 characters) and the longest is -ight (5).
Are all Word Families bingo cards the same?
No. Card 1 and card 2 of this set share 15 of their 24 squares, and every card is checked so none of the 30 in a free set repeats. About 2.21 × 10³³ different arrangements are possible from the 37 entries (3,562,467,300 different selections of 24).
How many Word Families bingo cards per person?
Usually one. Extra cards speed the game up only a little: on this list a first line took a median 11 calls with 30 cards in play, 10 with 60 (30 players on two cards each) and 14 with just 10. Two cards suit adults who want a faster game; young children do best with one. A free set of 30 covers 15 players on two cards each.
How long does Word Families bingo take?
A Word Families game with 30 players usually reaches its first line after 11 calls (8-14 in 80% of simulated games), about 2 minutes at one call every 10 seconds. A blackout takes about 34; with 10 players the first line needs about 14.
Can I print Word Families bingo cards for free?
Yes. All 37 entries are loaded above, so choose a card count up to 30 and press Print cards, or Download PDF to print later at one card per sheet (30 sheets for a full set). The shuffled caller sheet prints separately; nothing is uploaded or stored on a server.
How do I make my own Word Families bingo cards?
Start from this list: the 37 entries are already in the generator, so delete -ate or any other entry, type your own one per line and the cards update as you type. Keep at least 24 entries for 5x5 cards (16 for 4x4); the share link reprints exactly the same set.
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