L Blend Words: Word Lists & Worksheets (10 Free Printables)

Teaching children how to read happens bit by bit, not all at once. The truth is, learning how to read begins long before children start actually stringing words together. 

Teaching children to read begins with mastering individual letter sounds. These sounds, called phonemes, make up all the sounds in the English language.

The first phonemes, or sounds, a child learns are those of the individual consonants. They must learn that the letter B makes a /b/ sound and that the letter S can make either a /s/ or a /z/ sound. They must understand that the letter J makes a /j/ sound, but so does the letter /g/—when it doesn't make a /g/ sound. Learning these sounds is at the heart of blending—or combining—sounds to form words.

A consonant blend is a series of consonants that appear together before or after a vowel in a word. 

In a consonant blend, each letter retains its own sound. For example in the word glue, you can hear both the /g/ and /l/ sounds. In the word flap, you can hear both the /f/ and /l/ sounds. These words are examples of L blends—words that blend the letter L with another letter.

Consonant blends can be made up of either two or three letters, and can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.

Consonant blends that appear at the beginning of a word are called beginning blends. Some examples include the consonant clusters FL, PL, and SL.

Consonant blends that appear at the end of a word are called ending blends. These include consonant blends such as LT, LD, and LF.

Pro Tip: Consonant blends are different from digraphs, in which two consonants work together to make a single sound, or phoneme. Examples of digraphs include TH, QU, and PH.

L blends are one of the few groups of consonant blends that can appear as both beginning and ending blends. Beginning L blends are consonant clusters that feature the letter L as the second letter.

Beginning L blends include:

L blends are often easier for children to both read and pronounce. For this reason, they are usually taught before other blends. 

Below is a comprehensive list of beginning L blend words. Words that children should be able to decode when first learning L blends have been italicized for ease of use.

When practicing L blends, it is advised to start with these and work up to the more challenging words as children’s phonics skills advance.

One of the best ways to practice L blends is with a dedicated L Blend book. Plum Plot: An L Blends Decodable Reader focuses specifically on words that feature L Blends.

BL words are L blend words that begin with the letter B, followed by the letter L.

Below is a list of 30 beginning BL-blend words.

CL words are L blends that begin with the letter C, followed by the letter L.

Below is a list of 30 beginning CL-blend words.

FL words are L blends that begin with the letter F, followed by the letter L.

Below is a list of 30 beginning FL-blend words.

GL words are L blends that begin with the letter G, followed by the letter L.

Below is a list of 30 beginning GL-blend words.

PL words are L blends that begin with the letter P, followed by the letter L.

Below is a list of 30 beginning PL-blend words.

SL words are L blends that begin with the letter S, followed by the letter L.

Below is a list of 30 beginning SL-blend words.

LD words are L blends that begin with the letter L, followed by the letter D.

Below is a list of 15 ending LD-blend words.

LF words are L blends that begin with the letter L, followed by the letter F.

Below is a list of 10 ending LF-blend words.

LK words are L blends that begin with the letter L, followed by the letter K.

Below is a list of 10 ending LK-blend words.

Pro Tip: While some LK words are easy to read, others can be quite challenging as the L is almost silent. Preread LK words before giving them to your children to ensure both sounds can be heard. 

LP words are L blends that begin with the letter L, followed by the letter P.

Below is a list of 6 ending LP-blend words.

LT words are L blends that begin with the letter L, followed by the letter T.

Below is a list of 15 ending LT-blend words.

Keep in mind when working on consonant blends where a reader is in their ability. L blend words will be easier than R blend or T blend words, and will certainly be easier than digraphs, but will still be challenging for children who have not yet mastered blending CVC words. When first learning L blends, try to offer only words that include short vowel sounds. This will allow the reader to focus on the blend, rather than on the other sounds in the word. Text that contains only spelling patterns a child has already learned is known as decodable text.

Below is a sample of an L Blends decodable passage:

The Golf Club 
Slim clasps his golf club. 
Slim spots the flag. 
The flag flaps in the wind. 
Slim lifts the golf club. 
The club slams into a clod of sod. 
Slim slumps. 
Slim is bad at golf!

Encourage children to find L blends within written words BEFORE trying to read the words. One way to do this is by practicing scooping. Ask your children to look at a list of written words. Then encourage them to draw a scoop mark under the L blends, as in the image below. Encourage your child to identify whether the L blend is a beginning blend or an ending blend. Often words featuring L blends will be paired with other consonant blends, such as in slump or stalk. Ask your child whether there any other consonant blends in the word.

Another way to find blends is by highlighting them. Rather than giving children individual words, provide them with full sentences or paragraphs. Moving one word at a time, encourage them to highlight the L blends they see. Reading words in this way forces children to look at the component letters of a word before reading it, which will help them to identify where the L blends sit.

Create sight cards with pictures that children can identify. Rather than writing out the full word on the card, only include the letter blend. Then encourage the child to say the word aloud, listening for the two sounds the letter blend makes.

Encourage children to read through charts featuring each consonant blend separately, like the L blends fluency grid below:

Reading several of the same consonant cluster in a row helps build familiarity and will help readers to understand how the blend is formed and how it sounds in familiar words.

Remember, children do not need to memorize these consonant blends. They just need to recognize HOW to sound them out in order to be successful in reading them! And the more they practice, the more reading L blends will become second nature.