Second Grade Sight Words

Second Grade Sight Words are fun to learn with these FREE activities! We have included a variety of 2nd grade sight words word lists, printables, worksheets, games, assessments, and activities to help teach your students to learn to read second-grade sight words. Our free printable second-grade sight words activities and games will help encourage even the most reluctant reader. Level up your sight word learning centers or small group instruction with our Editable Sight Word Activity Bundle today! We’ve packed it with hands-on learning opportunities that will help your second graders to learn and practice sight words, spelling words, and so much more!

Sight Words for Second Grade

You might be wondering, what is a sight word? In general, Sight Words are words that cannot be sounded out phonetically and must be read by sight. For example, the word “cat” can be sounded out with individual letter sounds “c—a—t” and thus is not a sight word. However, words like “four” and “she” cannot be sounded out phonetically or broken apart into chunks. These words must be memorized through repetition and exposure, or memorized by sight. This is why they are called sight words.

Of course, there are always exceptions to the sight word rule, but this is a good starting point for understanding the purpose of sight words and the need for sight word memorization as an important building block on the road to reading. You can read more about the importance of sight words for kids here.

What are Second Grade Sight Words?

So, what are second-sight words and why are second-grade sight words so important? There are two widely accepted high-frequency sight word lists that are used by teachers and homeschooling parents all over the world. Dolch Sight Words, which is a word list compiled by Dr. Edward William Dolch includes 46 common sight words for second graders. Fry’s Sight Words, compiled by Dr. Edward Fry covers 100 sight words students should learn during grade 2. If you’re wondering which second-grade sight word list to use, you can read more about each sight word list here.

Sight Words your Second Graders Needs to Know:

Most commonly, we’ve seen the Dolch Sight Word second-grade list prevail as the accepted, grade-level specific list of sight words, however, many families and schools continue to use Fry’s 100 Sight Words Lists for kindergarten as well. As Fry’s second 100 words are suggested for second graders, some teachers and families will use the first hundred words listed as a review or for below-level learners. You might find that some school districts will use both, or a mixture compiled from each common sight word list.

Second Grade Sight Word List

The free printable sight word teaching resources on this page use Dolch sight word lists for second grade. If you’ve decided to use Fry’s 100 Sight Words for Second Grade, we have a variety of sight word charts, flashcards, and printables available as well. However, our suggested method order is to teach Dolch 220 sight words in Frequency order. Below you’ll find basic second-grade sight word lists for all 46 Dolch second-grade sight words.

2nd Grade Sight Word List

This is a free printable Second-Grade Sight Word PDF that includes all common and high-frequency words from the Dolch 220 Second Grade word list. These sight words are in alphabetical order for easy reference. Print this sight word list as a reference chart, for extra practice, or even use it as a sight word preassessment to see how many words your students know!

Grade 2 Sight Words Dolch 220 List

Second Grade students can learn important sight words in order of frequency. This second-grade sight word list presents the Dolch 220 second-grade sight words in order based on use in texts. This is very helpful for building important reading fluency skills as these are the most common words your young students will come across in their reading textbooks and early readers.

Second Grade Sight Words List

  • always
  • around
  • because
  • been
  • before
  • best
  • both
  • buy
  • call
  • cold
  • does
  • don’t
  • fast
  • first
  • five
  • found
  • gave
  • goes
  • green
  • its
  • made
  • many
  • off
  • or
  • pull
  • read
  • right
  • sing
  • sit
  • sleep
  • tell
  • their
  • these
  • those
  • upon
  • us
  • use
  • very
  • wash
  • which
  • why
  • wish
  • work
  • would
  • write
  • your

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How to Teach Sight Words in Second Grade

Here are some helpful tools that will help you teach your second-grade students important sight words. Second graders learn through play and repetition, so you’ll want to incorporate many hands-on second-grade sight word games, or even sight word songs! Repetition is also key, so you’ll find that many of the printables and games we feature below will help your student with extra practice on important second-grade reading skills. Additionally, second-grade students generally have beginning handwriting skills, so you’ll want to include opportunities for students to trace and write sight words independently.

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Free Second Grade Sight Word Printables

The second-grade sight word printables on this page reference Dolch 220 Sight Words intended for the second-grade year. There are 46 Dolch sight words for your second graders featured in the worksheets and activities below.

Second Grade Sight Word Worksheets

Free Printable Second Grade sight words worksheets and printables to help your students recognize common sight words. Learning these sight words requires repeated practice and exposure. Over the years we’ve created a TON of free and fun second-grade sight word worksheets, games, activity pages, and hands-on learning opportunities. Below we have some of our most loved second-grade sight word worksheets to provide your students with ample opportunities to practice reading, writing, and spelling common sight words.

Second Grade Sight Word Worksheets

Students work on a variety of skills for learning 46 sight words! With these free second-grade sight word worksheet PDFs, your students will work on a variety of sight word activities and reading skills:

  • Read Sight Words
  • Recognize Sight Words
  • Trace Sight Words
  • Tic Tac Toe Sight Words
  • Color by Sight Words
  • Sight Word Sentences
  • Writing Sight Words
  • Cursive Writing Sight Words

Grade 2 Color By Sight Word

If you need simple color-by-sight word activities, you’ll want to check out our Color By Sight Word Worksheets. We have a variety of thematic Color by Number printables for holidays, seasons, and themes. Within each theme, we’ve included a few Color by Sight Word printables that will help your students learn first grader sight words.

Second Grade Sight Word Games

Learning sight words in second grade is FUN with our free printable Sight Word Games for Second Grade! With our printable sight word flashcards, you can use our gameboards or create your own hands-on learning games, and small group activities for kids. We’ve created fun, hands-on learning activities for your second-grade students to learn sight words.

Second Grade Sight Word BINGO

Learning sight words is so much fun with our free printable Sight Word BINGO games! Each game features unique sight words from the Dolch Primer Word list for your second graders to find, read, and cover!

Second Grade Sight Word Flashcards

Free printable second-grade sight word flashcards for the Dolch 220 words list. These color-coded flashcards include every sight word your second graders should know! Great for learning to read practice or used with our Sight Word Games. These can be used as BINGO calling cards as well.

Second Grade Sight Word Four in a Row

Second Grade students can practice reading their sight words with this free printable second-grade sight word game. The goal of the game is to get four in a row on the gameboard. Students use free printable sight word flashcards to play.

Second-Grade Sight Word Assessment

If you are ready to test your second graders for sight word fluency, you’ll greatly appreciate our free printable sight word assessments. We’ve included teacher copy assessment sheets, as well as printable sight word reading cards for students. With quarterly testing, this assessment is the perfect resource to track and monitor student growth.

Dolch Sight Word Assessments 2nd Grade

Second-grade sight word assessments are enjoyable when there are low-prep resources. These printable worksheets provide everything you need to assess students on the second-grade dolce sight words up to four times a year! Grab yours and get started today!


Let’s Practice Our Sight Words!

Editable Sight Word Activity Bundle!

Want to give your students the opportunity to practice their sight words in a fun and engaging way? You’re in luck!

Our Editable Sight Word Activity Bundle strategically helps students to practice spelling words, sight words, student names and so much more! Save with our sight word bundle and fill your literacy centers with custom learning resources suited to your students’ abilities.


Second Grade Sight Words: Dolch Sight Words List

If you need a simple and quick list of sight words for second grade in alphabetical order, you can simply copy and print the list below! Use the list to plan out your homeschool, classroom, or target word list for the school year. These sight words are taken from the Second Grade Dolch Sight Words 220 Word List. We’ve also included a sight word list for second grade ordered by frequency. Starting with the high-frequency words first will help your student learn their sight words, which are common words that will show up in a variety of second-grade texts.

Second Grade Sight Words List in Alphabetical Order

  • always
  • around
  • because
  • been
  • before
  • best
  • both
  • buy
  • call
  • cold
  • does
  • dont
  • fast
  • first
  • five
  • found
  • gave
  • goes
  • green
  • its
  • made
  • many
  • off
  • or
  • pull
  • read
  • right
  • sing
  • sit
  • sleep
  • tell
  • their
  • these
  • those
  • upon
  • us
  • use
  • very
  • wash
  • which
  • why
  • wish
  • work
  • would
  • write
  • your

Second Grade Sight Words List in Frequency Order

  • would
  • very
  • your
  • its
  • around
  • don’t
  • right
  • green
  • their
  • call
  • sleep
  • five
  • wash
  • or
  • before
  • been
  • off
  • could
  • tell
  • work
  • first
  • does
  • goes
  • write
  • always
  • made
  • gave
  • us
  • buy
  • those
  • use
  • fast
  • pull
  • both
  • sit
  • which
  • read
  • why
  • found
  • because
  • best
  • upon
  • these
  • sing
  • wish
  • many

What about Second Grade Phonics?

Learning sight words is not the only step to reading fluency. Words like “cat” that can be sounded out like “c – a – t” or “c – at” are usually classified under phonics, cvc, or word families, and are just as important for students to learn to be successful readers. Be sure to check out our free CVC worksheets and phonics printables to help your students continue the path of reading success.

Comment (1)

  • Donna Reply

    I’m getting my First graders ready for Second grade!

    April 25, 2024 at 6:11 am

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