Here are 45 spelling bee words for Year 5, in three levels: a warm-up round, middle rounds and final rounds. They work for a class bee, a school bee or a practice bee at the kitchen table, and they use Australian spelling (favourite, neighbour, jewellery) throughout.
By Year 5, spelling bees get competitive. The final-round words (conscientious, mischievous, onomatopoeia, chrysalis, silhouette) are where they're won and lost, so practise those the most.
Year 5 spelling bee words
Warm-up · 15 words
Words most Year 5 children can spell with a little practice.
- special
- social
- possible
- visible
- doubt
- lamb
- island
- ceiling
- receive
- either
- frequent
- decent
- tolerant
- listen
- muscle
Middle rounds · 15 words
Words with one tricky part each.
- delicious
- suspicious
- ambitious
- cautious
- artificial
- essential
- confident
- independence
- excellent
- noticeable
- considerable
- referred
- preference
- receipt
- thistle
Final rounds · 15 words
Long words, borrowed words and Australian words to sort the finalists.
- conscientious
- mischievous
- onomatopoeia
- chrysalis
- silhouette
- questionnaire
- bureaucracy
- Mediterranean
- Aboriginal
- archipelago
- reconciliation
- surveillance
- hygiene
- pneumonia
- rhinoceros
Year 5 spelling bee words · free to print from phonogramfun.com/learn
How a spelling bee works
- The caller says the word, uses it in a sentence, and says the word again.
- The speller may ask for the word to be repeated, used in another sentence, or defined.
- The speller says the word, spells it letter by letter, and says it again.
- A wrong letter is out for that round. Once a letter is said, it can't be taken back.
How to practise for a bee
Spell out loud, not on paper. A bee is spoken, and it's surprisingly different: children who write a word perfectly can lose their place saying it. Chunk long words into parts (hygiene → hygiene). Learn the story behind odd words: where a word comes from often explains its spelling. And finish every practice on a word they get right.
For weekly classroom lists rather than a bee, see Year 5 spelling words.
Questions parents ask
What words are in a Year 5 spelling bee?
There's no official list for most school bees in Australia; teachers choose words that suit the class. These 45 words cover the patterns Year 5 children learn, plus harder words for the final rounds.
How do you practise for a spelling bee?
Spell the words out loud rather than writing them, break long words into chunks, and spend most time on the hardest words. Finish each session on a word your child spells correctly.