Long E /i/ vs. Short I /I/ 1. heat / hit How can you hit a ball in this heat? Vowel Contrasts 2. feel / fill Fill up the cup until you can feel the water. 3. feat,feet / fit It is quite a feat to fit your feet into those shoes. 4. seat / sit Please sit down on the seat nearest to you. 5. steal,steel / still Even after he got caught, he still tried to steal from the steel mill. 6. deep / dip He is going for a dip in the deep pool. 7. keen / kin Even though they are kin, he is not keen on spending time with them. 8. bead / bid We bid on a beautiful bead necklace at the auction. 9. being / bin He was being careful to store the grain in the bin. 10. seen,scene / sin Working with addicts, he has seen a lot of sin in their lives. 11. seek / sick If you are sick, you should seek the help of a doctor. 12. peek,peak / pick Take a peek at the lovely apples that we will pick when they are at their peak. 13. lead / lid You can lead the class in decorating the box lid. 14. sleep / slip I'm so tired that I will slip into a deep sleep quite easily. 15. sheep / ship The sheep are on a ship on a deep sea trip. 16. cheap / chip This is a cheap brand of potato chip. 17. cheek / chick She rubbed the fuzzy chick against her cheek. 18. leak / lick You'd better lick your ice cream cone; it's starting to leak.
19. meat / mitt She wore an oven mitt to get the meat out of the oven. 20. meal / mill We had a delicious meal near the old grain mill. 21. week,weak / wick That candle wick makes a very weak flame. 22. green / grin She had a big grin on her face as she ate the green lollipop. 23. read,reed / rid Get rid of the directions after you read them. 24. least / list I finished at least ten things on your list. 25. reap / rip He ripped his shirt while trying to reap the corn crop. 26. leave / live Don't leave me; let's live together forever. Short A /æ/ vs. Short E / ɛ/ 1. bat / bet I bet he will get hit with the bat. 2. sat / set I sat down after I had set the table. 3. Dan / den You will find Dan out in the den. 4. fancy / fence That is a very fancy fence. 5. ham / hem She spilled ham on the hem of her dress. 6. cattle / kettle The cattle stomped on the iron kettle. 7. laughed / left He laughed as he left the party. 8. mat / met I met her as we sat on our yoga mats. 9. mass / mess The tangled mass of yarn was a big mess. 10. nasty / nest Your hands will get nasty if you touch that bird nest. 11. knack / neck He has a knack for massaging my neck. 12. pack / peck
Pack away those berries before the birds peck at them. 13. pat / pet My pet dog likes me to pat him on the head. 14. paddle / peddle What can we peddle to buy a new paddle? 15. rack / wreck The little boy made a wreck out of the dresses hanging on the rack. 16. ran / wren He ran after the fledgling wren. 17. sand / send Send him to the shower to wash the sand off of his feet. 18. tan / ten Some people can get a tan in only ten minutes. 19. task / test Your task is to complete this test in an hour. 20. vat / vet We took our cat to the vet after it fell in a vat of wine. Short A /æ/ vs. Short I /I/ 1. hat / hit Be careful not to hit anyone with the brim of your hat. 2. bat / bit The bat bit the dog when it was caught. 3. batter / bitter The batter tasted bitter after she added the butter. 4. bag / big In the bag was a big box. 5. cat / kit She made a toy cat from a kit. 6. can / kin Her kin like to eat food from a can. 7. dash / dish Add a dash of salt to that dish of vegetables. 8. fat / fit You must stay fit if you do not want to get fat. 9. fast / fist He is very fast with his fist during a fight. 10. famished / finished Because he was famished, he finished his dinner quickly. 11. jam / Jim Jim bought some strawberry jam.
12. last / list At last, I have found everything on my shopping list. 13. laughed / lift He laughed as he tried to lift the heavy board. 14. ladder / litter Please pick up the litter under that ladder. 15. match / Mitch Mitch found a match to light the candle. 16. nap / nip The dog who was awakened from his nap tried to nip the boy. 17. knack / nick He had a knack for solving problems just in the nick of time 18. pan / pin We don't need a straight pin in the frying pan. 19. pack / pick Pick out the clothes you want to pack for your trip. 20. sack / sick The sick little boy is sacked out on the couch. 21. slap / slip It was a slap in the face when she got a pink slip at work 22. strap / strip He will strip the polish off of the leather strap. 23. track / trick He performed a silly trick while running around the track. 24. quack / quick The quick duck will quack and fly away. 25. rang / ring He rang the doorbell and gave her a ring. Short O Ah /a/ vs. Schwa Uh / ʌ/ 1. box / bucks I left the box full of bucks on the table. 2. lock / luck It's just my luck that the door would be locked. 3. Bonnie / bunny Bonnie got a new pet bunny for Easter. 4. calm / come Please calm down and come with me. 5. cop / cup The cop spilled his cup of coffee. 6. cot / cut
He lay on the cot until his cut stopped bleeding. 7. call / cull I called to ask you to cull the papers on your desk. 8. dollar / duller Is it duller to earn a dollar or work for free? 9. got / gut I've got a gut feeling about how the game will end. 10. hot / hut It is hot in the little hut. 11. jot / jut Let me jot down a note about the rock that juts out over there. 12. mock / muck The boys mocked the child who fell in the muck. 13. moss / must You must not touch the moss on the rock. 14. knock / knuckle The bully knocked him down, and he scraped his knuckle. 15. knob / nub I dropped my pencil nub while reaching for the doorknob. 16. knot,not / nut He did not forget how to tie a knot around the nut. 17. potter / putter The potter likes to putter around in his workshop. 18. pop / pup The pup is scared when a balloon pops. 19. pock / puck The boy with a pock on his face hit the hockey puck into the goal. 20. sock / suck The sleepy boy sucks his thumb while wearing socks. Short E / ɛ/ vs. Short I /I/ 1. bet / bit They made a bet on who bit the apple first. 2. better / bitter The bitter tea was better after she added more sugar. 3. dead / did Did you see the dead possum by the road? 4. desk / disc The disc you need is on my desk. 5. fell / fill He was trying to fill the bucket when he fell down.
6. head / hid The ostrich hid its head in the sand. 7. led / lid He led me to where the lid was located. 8. letter / litter Please don't litter by throwing that letter on the ground. 9. met / mitt He met the new pitcher while wearing his catcher's mitt. 10. set / sit After you set the table, you may sit down. 11. middle / meddle It's usually not helpful to meddle in the middle of other people's problems. 12. myth / meth It is a myth that meth will not hurt you. 13. milled / meld He milled the wood and will meld the metal trim. 14. nil / Nell Nell knows nil about their plans. 15. nick / neck He saved our necks just in the nick of time. 16. knit / net She could not knit a strong enough net for the fisherman. 17. pick / peck Can you pick a peck of peaches? 18. pin / pen I can balance a pin on the end of my ballpoint pen. 19. piddle / peddle He tried to peddle his wares, but mostly he piddled around. 20. rid / red,read Please get rid of the books you've already read. 21. Rick / wreck Rick was in a car wreck Saturday night. 22. Sid / said Sid was there and said no one was hurt.