The Letter W

The letter W makes the sound heard in the words wet and reward. This consonant sound ranks in the not so common category along with its counterparts: h, j and k. The letter W can also be silent, e.g., wrap, wrote and two. The combination of the letters “w” and “h” results in three unique sounds.

1. The W is silent, e.g., whole & whom.
2. The H is silent, e.g., wheat & whale.
3. Some people pronounce an H sound before the W. So the words above are pronounced /hwet/ and /hwal/.

In addition, the letter W when combined with a vowel can produce a vowel sound, e.g., now, owl, and saw.

Letter W Worksheets

We created worksheets to help your child practice forming the letter w correctly. Ideally, letters should be formed from top to bottom and left to right with a continuous stroke when possible. The upper- and lowercase W are formed the say way – slant down, slant up, slant down and slant up.

Letter W Worksheet 1
We offer a free printable worksheet that encourages a child to say, trace and write the upper- and lowercase letter W.

Letter W Worksheet 2
We offer a free printable worksheet that focuses on the uppercase letter w. We encourage a child to say, trace and write the uppercase letter W.

Letter W Worksheet 3
We offer a free printable worksheet that focuses on the lowercase letter w. We encourage a child to say, trace and write the lowercase letter W.

Letter W Worksheet 4
We offer a free printable worksheet that encourages a child to say, trace and write the upper- and lowercase letter W.

Letter W Worksheet 5
We offer a free printable worksheet that encourages a child to say, trace and write the upper- and lowercase letter w.

Letter W Worksheet 6
We offer a free printable worksheet that encourages a child to say, trace and write the upper- and lowercase letter w. We also included a fun game – circle the items that begin with the letter w.

Words with the letter W

The table below contains a list of words with the letter W that make the /w/ sound. We also indicate the location of the /w/ sound – beginning (initial) or middle (medial).

Letter W Words	Sound
awake	medial
aware	medial
away	medial
backward	medial
forward	medial
halfway	medial
highway	medial
midway	medial
reward	medial
sandwich	medial
sidewalk	medial
tapeworm	medial
unwind	medial
upward	medial
waffle	initial
wag	initial
wagon	initial
wait	initial
walk	initial
wall	initial
wallet	initial
walnut	initial
wand	initial
want	initial
war	initial
warm	initial
was	initial
wash	initial
washcloth	initial
waste	initial
watch	initial
water	initial
watermelon	initial
wave	initial
way	initial
we	initial
wear	initial
weather	initial
wedding	initial
Wednesday	initial
week	initial
weigh	initial
weird	initial
welcome	initial
well	initial
were	initial
west	initial
wet	initial
wide	initial
wife	initial
will	initial
win	initial
wind	initial
window	initial
wing	initial
wink	initial
winter	initial
wipe	initial
wise	initial
wish	initial
witch	initial
with	initial
without	initial
wolf	initial
woman	initial
wonderful	initial
wood	initial
woodpecker	initial
word	initial
work	initial
world	initial
worm	initial
worry	initial
worse	initial
would	initial