Long U Words: Lists by Spelling (u_e, ue, ew), With Sentences

Long u words are words where the u says its name, as in cube, music and few. Unlike the other vowels, long u makes two sounds. In cube it says /yoo/, like the word you. In flute, blue and chew it says plain /oo/, like in moon. Both count as long u. Our free long u words flash cards have 20 picture cards sorted by spelling, plus the full word list and sentences on page 2. You don’t need to sign up or leave an email.

You’ll find the long u words list on this page, sorted by spelling and by sound, with sentences to read aloud and the words that look like long u but aren’t. For all five long vowels side by side, start with our long vowel words overview.

The long u sound (two of them)

/yoo/ is the letter’s name. Say you. That’s it. There’s a tiny y at the start, then the lips round and push forward. You hear it in cube, cute, mule, music, unicorn and few.

/oo/ drops the y. The lips round the same way, but the sound starts straight away. You hear it in rule, flute, June, blue, glue and chew.

The sound before the u is what usually decides which one you get. After r, l, j and ch, it’s almost always /oo/: rule, flute, June, chew. In most American speech it’s /oo/ after t, d, n and s too, when that part of the word is stressed: tube, due, new, Sue. In a weak ending the y usually stays: menu, value, continue. After most other sounds (c, f, m, p, h, or no sound at all) it stays /yoo/: cube, few, mule, pupil, huge, use.

Your child doesn’t need that rule to read. Tell them long u has two sounds, try /yoo/ first, and if the word sounds odd, try /oo/. Short u, as in cub, is different again. The mouth stays relaxed and the sound is a quick “uh”.

There’s one more thing. The /oo/ in moon and flute is not the sound in book, put and push. That one is shorter, with the lips looser. The book sound is not long u.

Long u starts in late kindergarten into 1st grade, like the other long vowels, once cub and cut read easily. It’s often the last of the five, because it has the fewest everyday words.

Long u words list by spelling

Long u has four spellings to start with, the same four on our Sound Mat: u_e (cube), ue (glue), u on its own at the end of a syllable (unicorn) and ui (juice). ew (new) is the one to add next, and it turns up early because of new, knew, grew and flew. Take them one by one, and read each list aloud with your child before any sorting.

Our magic e and vowel teams guides cover why each spelling works. The lists are below.

u_e (cube, flute)

When you see it: u, one consonant, then a silent e. The e makes the u say its long sound, /yoo/ or /oo/. Many US programs teach this spelling first, and it pairs neatly with short u words kids already read.

/yoo/: cube, cute, mule, huge, use, fuse, mute
/oo/: tube, rule, rude, June, dune, tune, flute, prune
Longer words: amuse, excuse, refuse, confuse, costume, include, perfume

ue (blue, glue)

When you see it: ue at the end of a word says long u. It’s almost always at the very end (Tuesday is an exception).

/oo/: blue, glue, clue, true, due, Sue, statue, Tuesday
/yoo/: rescue, value, barbecue, continue, argue

u at the end of a syllable (music, unicorn)

When you see it: a u at the end of a syllable, with no consonant after it to cut it short, says its name. Clap the word into parts first: mu-sic, u-ni-corn.

/yoo/: music, unit, human, pupil, menu, emu, united, unicycle, unicorn, uniform, bugle
/oo/: tuba, ruby, tulip, duty, truly, flu, student, super

These are longer words, so they usually come later in 1st grade. Unicorn and music are the exceptions. Kids know them, love them, and read them early. In unicorn, uniform and super, the u is fine, but the or and er are bossy r. If your child hasn’t met that part yet, read it for them.

ui (fruit, juice): a small group

When you see it: ui says /oo/ in a handful of words. Teach it as a small group, not a big pattern.

Words: fruit, suit, juice, bruise, cruise

Watch out for build, built and guitar. The u is silent and the i does the work. Those aren’t long u words.

ew (new, few): the one to add next

When you see it: ew says long u, usually at the end of a word. It isn’t on the Sound Mat, but it shows up in some very common words.

/oo/: new, dew, knew, news, chew, crew, drew, grew, flew, blew, stew, screw, threw, jewel
/yoo/: few, nephew

New, knew, grew and flew turn up all the time in early books, so ew is worth teaching soon after the first four, even though it isn’t the most regular.

oo (moon): same sound, different spelling

The /oo/ in moon, spoon, zoo and food is the same sound as the /oo/ in flute and blue. But oo is its own vowel team, so most programs teach it with the vowel teams rather than as long u. That’s where your child will meet it.

Long u words for kindergarten: a starter set

If your child is in kindergarten and just starting long vowels, these are good long u words to begin with. They’re short and easy to picture.

cube, cute, mule, huge, use, tube, June, rule, flute, dune, tune, prune, blue, glue

Add new and few early too. They’re everyday words your child will meet in books. Once these feel easy, the rest of the ue, ew and open u words can come.

Programs differ on where to start. Many US programs begin long u with u_e. Our own teaching order does u_e first, then the vowel teams. You can go either way.

Long u words that start with u

For first-sound games (“what sound does unicorn start with?”), these all start with long u, and all of them say /yoo/:

use, unit, unicorn, uniform, united, union, ukulele, universe

Plenty of words start with u and don’t say long u: up, us, under, umbrella (short u) and urn (u with r). Leave those out of a long u sort.

Long u words with pictures

Long u has fewer picture words than the other vowels, but these are easy to draw for picture cards, a matching game or a word wall:

cube, mule, tube, flute, prune, dune, glue, blue, clue, statue, barbecue, juice, fruit, suit, unicorn, music, tuba, bugle, uniform, emu, stew, screw, jewel

Many of these are drawn for you on our free printable long u picture flash cards: 20 cards to cut out, sorted by spelling.

Our free Long Vowels Sound Mat has a long u row with a picture word for u, u_e, ue and ui (unicorn, cube, glue, juice), next to the other four long vowels on one page.

Short u vs long u words

A pair is the clearest way to hear the difference. Add a silent e, and the short u turns long.

Short u	Long u
cub	cube
tub	tube
cut	cute
us	use
hug	huge

Read the short word, then the long one, and ask your child what the e did. Two of the pairs come with a bonus. Hug to huge changes the g too, from /g/ to /j/ (a soft g). Us to use changes the s too, from /s/ to /z/.

Sentences to read aloud

These use long u words plus a few common words (the, a, is, to, has, can). The little word a says “uh” in a sentence. If your child’s program starts with ue and ew, begin with the second set.

Starting out (u_e):

The mule is cute.
June has a flute.
The cube is huge.
Use the tube.
A mule on a dune.
That is the rule.

Adding ue and ew:

The glue is blue.
Tim has a few new cubes.
The crew had stew.
The duck flew to the pond.
Is it true?

Adding ui and open u (1st grade):

The fruit juice is in the cup.
The emu has a tuba.
June has a new suit.
The emu drank the juice.

Free one-page worksheets give your child long u phrases to read, trace and write: a cute mule and mule on a tube for u_e, a new blue hat for ew and ue, and fresh fruit for ui. For the same /oo/ sound spelled oo, try the moon at noon.

Traps: words that look or sound like long u but aren’t

put, push, pull, full, bush. The u says /oo/ as in book, not /oo/ as in moon. Teach them as heart words.
pure, cure, sure. An r after the u changes the sound, so leave these out of a long u sort. Sure also starts with “sh”. These belong with bossy r later.
busy. The u says short i: “bizzy”. It’s a heart word.
bury. The u says short e: it sounds like berry. Also a heart word.
sew. The ew says long o, like so. It’s the only common word where ew does that.
build, built, guitar. The u is silent. The i says short i.
minute, lettuce. In minute (as in 60 seconds) and lettuce, the u_e looks like magic e but says a quick, weak sound, not long u. Read them for your child for now.
you. It’s the long u sound /yoo/, but it’s spelled o-u, so most programs teach it as a heart word.

How to practice long u

Five minutes a day is enough.

Say “you”. Start each session by saying you, then cube. That’s the same sound. Then say flute and ask: did you hear the y? No? That’s the other long u.
Add the e. With our letter tiles, build cub. Add an e: cube. Take it off again. Then try tub/tube and cut/cute.
Two-sound sort. Make two columns: /yoo/ (a picture of a cube) and /oo/ (a picture of the moon). Read a word card together, say it, and put it where it belongs: cute, rule, few, blue, music, chew.
Sort by spelling. Make three columns: u_e, ue, ew. The sound is the same across them. Only the spelling changes. Most of it is spelling memory, built by reading the words often.
Build silly sentences. Our long vowel sentence builder (magic e words) and vowel teams sentence builder have picture cards to cut out, build into a silly sentence and write.

When you say them yourself, long u’s two sounds are easy to blur. Our reading games say /yoo/ and /oo/ the same way every time, so your child can hear which is which. (Luvinci is our learning app for kindergarten & 1st grade, ages 3 to 8. No ads, and it runs offline.)

Questions parents ask

Why does long u have two sounds? The letter’s name is /yoo/, but English often drops the y, especially after r, l, j and ch (rule, flute, June, chew). Both are long u. Just by hearing the word, most kids pick up which one fits.

How will my child know whether to write ue or ew? There’s no rule a child can use. Blue and blew sound exactly the same. Your child remembers which is which by seeing each word many times. When they’re reading, it’s no problem, since both say long u.

Is “moon” a long u word? It has the same /oo/ sound as flute and blue, so some lists include it. But oo is its own vowel team, and most programs teach it with the vowel teams, not as long u.

When are long u words taught? Magic e words like cube and mule usually come in late kindergarten into 1st grade, often last of the five long vowels. The ue, ew and ui spellings, and longer words like music and unicorn, usually come in 1st grade.

What comes next

The five long vowels finish with long u. What comes after cube, glue, new and music depends on where your program started. If it started with magic e, the next steps are the other vowel teams (oo in moon, ow and ou in cow and cloud, oi and oy in coin and boy) and bossy r words like car, her, bird, fork and fur. If it started with vowel teams, finish any you skipped, like oo, ow/ou and oi/oy.

The takeaways

Long u says its name, /yoo/, as in cube, music and few. It also says plain /oo/, as in rule, flute, blue and chew. Both count.
Try /yoo/ first. If the word sounds odd, try /oo/. After r, l, j and ch (and usually t, d, n and s), expect /oo/.
Four spellings to start: u_e (cube), ue (glue), u at the end of a syllable (unicorn), ui (juice). Add ew (new, few) next.
Use pairs: cub/cube, tub/tube, cut/cute, us/use. Start with the short word, every time.
Watch the traps: put and push (the book sound), pure and sure (bossy r), busy, bury, sew, build.
Print the free long u flash cards: 20 picture cards by spelling, plus the full list and sentences. For all five long vowels on one page, add the free Long Vowels Sound Mat, and find every long vowel worksheet in our library.