10 printable sets · answer key on every set

Beginning Sounds Worksheets

CCSS RF.K.2.d
20 items per set
Answer key included

What this skill is

Hearing that words starting with the same letter start with the same sound.

When it comes up: Early-to-mid kindergarten, alongside letter recognition.

The mistake to watch for

Matching by what a word looks like or means instead of how it sounds — pairing "whale" with "web" because both are animals, not because they start the same.

How to help

Cover the rest of the word and say only the first sound out loud, exaggerated: "mmm-ilk." Isolate the sound before asking for a match.

Next: Rhyming, the other half of phonological awareness.

A worked example

Which word starts with the same sound as 'b': ball or sun? Say the first sound of each word: b-all and s-un. Ball starts with the /b/ sound.

Words to know

sound: What you hear when you say a letter or a word.
letter: One of the symbols we use to write words, like a, b or c.
alphabet: All the letters of a language in their order, from A to Z.
vowel: The letters a, e, i, o and u. Every syllable has a vowel sound.
consonant: Any letter that is not a vowel, like b, c, d or f.
word: A group of letters that has a meaning.

Practice

Circle the word that starts with the same sound.

Showing Set 1 · 20 items

Which word starts with the same sound as 'm'? milk / yarn
Which word starts with the same sound as 'w'? pig / web
Which word starts with the same sound as 'w'? web / kite
Which word starts with the same sound as 'y'? yellow / vet
Which word starts with the same sound as 'p'? fork / pig
Which word starts with the same sound as 'm'? mud / ring
Which word starts with the same sound as 'y'? yarn / horse
Which word starts with the same sound as 'z'? zoo / jump
Which word starts with the same sound as 'j'? nest / jar
Which word starts with the same sound as 'k'? top / kite
Which word starts with the same sound as 'y'? yarn / fork
Which word starts with the same sound as 'j'? hop / jar
Which word starts with the same sound as 'k'? moon / key
Which word starts with the same sound as 'n'? nose / bed
Which word starts with the same sound as 't'? top / wet
Which word starts with the same sound as 'j'? leg / jet
Which word starts with the same sound as 't'? yak / ten
Which word starts with the same sound as 'l'? lion / kid
Which word starts with the same sound as 'n'? vet / net
Which word starts with the same sound as 'p'? jar / pot

Download this set20 items · answer key included PDF

Answer key

milk
web
web
yellow
pig
mud
yarn
zoo
jar
kite
yarn
jar
key
nose
top
jet
ten
lion
net
pot

All 10 sets

Each set is a different list of 20 items with its own answer key. Use the buttons above to look at one on this page, or download any of them as a PDF.

How these sheets were made

Problems are generated for each set and checked against RF.K.2.d before the sheet is built — no duplicates, and every problem falls inside the standard's number range.