Phonics for Kids Lesson 13: Same Sound, Different Spelling (ai/ay, ee/ea, igh/ie/y, oa/ow)

Do ai in rain and ay in play make the same sound? In Phonics Lesson 13, children learn that one sound can be spelled in different ways: ai/ay/a_e, ee/ea, igh/ie/y and oa/ow/o_e, with tips on where each spelling goes. They read words like day, sea, tie and grow, spot mistakes, draw Sound Family Houses, and finish with a 5-question quiz.

1. One Sound, Different Spellings

• One sound can have more than one spelling.
• ai in the middle: rain. ay at the end: play.
• oa in the middle: boat. ow at the end: snow.

2. Long a and long e

• ai – rain
• ay – play
• ee – tree
• ea – leaf

3. Long i and long o

• igh – night
• ie – pie
• y – fly
• oa – boat
• ow – snow
• o_e – bone

4. Same Sound, Different Spelling

rain • play • cake (/ai/), tree • leaf (/ee/), night • pie • fly (/igh/), boat • snow • bone (/oa/)

5. Spot the Mistake

• ❌ “play” spelled “plai”  →  ✅ play: ay at the end
• ❌ “snow” read as “sn-ow” like cow  →  ✅ snow: ow says /oa/ here

6. Your Turn

Ask your child these questions. Answers are in brackets.

• Read: day (day)
• Read: sea (sea)
• Read: tie (tie)
• Read: grow (grow)

7. Activity: Sound Family Houses

You need: paper, crayons.

1. Draw 4 houses: /ai/, /ee/, /igh/, /oa/.
2. Write words in the right house: rain, play, tree, leaf, pie, fly, boat, snow.
3. Colour each spelling in a different colour.

8. Quick Recap

• One sound, many spellings.
• /ai/: ai rain • ay play • a_e cake
• /ee/: ee tree • ea leaf
• /igh/: igh ie y • /oa/: oa ow o_e

Free Worksheet

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Phonics 13: Same Sound, Different Spelling worksheet (PDF) →

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