Word Shape Generator
Create word shape worksheets where students identify words by their letter outlines. Tall letters go up, descenders go down—perfect for spelling recognition and visual word learning.
Enter words separated by commas or one per line. 15 words or less recommended.
Letter Height Guide
Add words and click "Generate Word Shapes"
to create your word shape worksheet
About This Tool
The Word Shape Generator creates unique spelling worksheets based on the visual shape of words. Each word is displayed as a series of connected boxes that show whether each letter is tall (like b, d, h, l), has a descender (like g, j, p, y), or sits on the baseline (like a, c, e, o). Students look at the distinctive pattern and write the word that fits. This technique helps children develop visual word recognition, spelling awareness, and understanding of letter anatomy. Research shows that recognizing word shapes aids reading fluency and spelling retention.
Frequently Asked Questions
Word shapes show the outline or silhouette of a word based on letter heights. Tall letters (b, d, f, h, k, l, t) extend upward, descenders (g, j, p, q, y) extend downward, and other letters stay at baseline height. This visual pattern is unique to each word and helps children recognize words by their distinctive shape, improving spelling and reading recognition.
Tall letters (ascenders) are: b, d, f, h, k, l, t. Descender letters are: g, j, p, q, y. All other lowercase letters (a, c, e, i, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w, x, z) sit at the baseline and have uniform height in the boxes.
Word shapes work well for early readers (ages 5-8) learning to recognize and spell words. They're especially helpful for visual learners who benefit from seeing the distinctive outline of words. Teachers often use them for spelling practice, vocabulary introduction, and reading readiness activities.
Students examine the shape pattern of each word box—noticing which boxes are tall, which extend down, and which are baseline height. They then write the word that matches this unique pattern. For answer key mode, letters appear inside the boxes for self-checking or teacher reference.