Vowel Digraphs & Diphthongs — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. Which word names a farm animal that says moo?
A) cone
B) cow
C) coin
D) coo
Cow uses ow to glide. Cone has long o with silent e, coin uses oi, and coo uses long oo.
2. Which word means very noisy?
A) load
B) looud
C) loud
D) lowd
Loud uses ou to spell the gliding diphthong. Load uses long o, and the others are not real words.
3. Which word means used his eyes to see?
A) soar
B) sew
C) saw
D) sow
Saw uses aw for the open vowel sound. Soar is to fly high, sew means to stitch, and sow means to plant.
4. Which word names the round object in the night sky?
A) mood
B) moon
C) mown
D) moan
Moon uses long oo and ends in n. Mood also has long oo but means a feeling, mown and moan use different vowel teams.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. The red cow in the field mooed loudly at sunrise.
Cow ends in ow to spell the Grade 2 diphthong sound, not the long o in cone.
2. The thunder was so loud it woke the baby.
Loud uses ou in the middle for the diphthong, not the long o in load.
3. Yesterday I saw a rainbow after the storm.
Saw ends in aw for the open vowel sound, not the long o sound in soar.
4. The full moon shone brightly over the lake.
Moon uses long oo and ends in n, naming the object in the sky, not a feeling like mood.
5. The noisy crowd at the fair made me smile.
Crowd uses ow to spell the gliding diphthong, a key Grade 2 vowel team pattern.