200+ Short e words (word lists and pictures)

Short e words

On this page, we have some free short e sound words resources that can be used for young learners, ESL students, and speech therapy. There are word lists, picture and word flashcards, along with some easy practice sentences.

Let’s compare some words with short e and long e to understand our target sound clearly. The first words have a short vowel sound while the second words have a long one.

them and these
sweat and sweet
peck and peak
fez and freeze
wet and week

Notice the difference?

Nearly all the words on this page are pronounced phonetically as /ɛ/ in North America. Some words, depending on where the speaker is from, can be pronounced /e/. For many, there is not much difference between the 2 and the majority of native English speakers would say that none exists! Don’t be overly concerned by this regional phenomenon.

For some more short vowel sound resources, have a look at the short o words and the short i words pages.

Short e words lists

The word lists provided below are more extensive than the free printable one above. They have been arranged into groups of CVC words, CCVC words, CVCC words, Mixed words, and ea words with a short e.

Short e CVC words

This lists consists of three-letter words that have the consonant – vowel – consonant structure. They are perfect for children who are just learning how to read.

bed

beg

bet

den

fed

fez

gel

gem

get

hem

hen

hex

jet

keg

led

leg

let

men

met

net

peg

pen

pet

red

set

ten

vet

web

wed

wet

yep

yes

yet

Short e words - CCVC

These CCVC words have four letters and have the consonant – consonant – vowel – consonant structure. These words start with blends and digraphs.

bled

chef

clef

fled

flex

fret

glen

prep

shed

sled

sped

stem

step

them

trek

when

wren

Short e sound words - CVCC

These 4-letter words have the consonant – vowel- consonant – consonant structure.

bell

belt

bend

bent

best

cell

cent

deck

dent

desk

hell

help

jest

kelp

kept

left

lend

lent

less

melt

mend

mesh

mess

neck

nest

peck

pest

rent

rest

sell

send

tech

tell

tend

tent

test

vent

vest

well

went

west

yell

yelp

zest

Short e words - Mixed

This list has a mixture of different words. There are words that start with a short e, some words with 2 or more syllables, and more complex words.

basket

bench

blend

bless

check

chess

chest

contest

crept

crest

dress

dwell

echo

eddy

edge

edit

egg

elbow

elephant

elf

elk

else

end

enter

epic

essay

ever

exam

exit

expect

fence

fetch

flesh

French

fresh

guess

happen

hedge

hello

hidden

insect

item

jacket

jelly

kennel

kettle

lemon

length

magnet

melon

metal

packet

pelican

pencil

pledge

pocket

press

quell

quest

racket

relish

rocket

rotten

section

seven

shelf

shell

shred

sketch

smell

socket

speck

spell

spend

stench

stress

stretch

sudden

sunset

swell

tablet

telescope

tennis

ticket

trend

trumpet

unless

upset

velvet

wedge

Welsh

wreck

wrench

Short e words with ea spelling

The short e can also appear in words with ea spelling. There are quite a few examples of this, so some have been included in our lists.

There are other exceptions, such as the eo in leopard, the ai in said, the ie in frinds, and the ei in heifer. These variations don’t appear very often, so they have not been included with their own separate lists.

ahead

already

bread

breakfast

breath

dead

deaf

feather

head

health

heaven

heavy

instead

lead

leather

meant

pleasure

read

ready

spread

steady

stealth

sweat

thread

tread

treasure

weapon

weather

Short e words with pictures

Next, we have some beautiful photograph flashcards of words with a short e vowel sound. Once printed out, these picture cards can be used to play games and practice pronunciation and vocabulary in interesting ways.

Note that if you are looking for some more CVC words with short vowel sounds, you can find them on the CVC words with pictures page.