Free Printable Fry Instant Word Lists

About these fry instant words handouts

Edward Fry's Instant Words list is a ranking of the 1,000 most common words in English print, arranged in order of how often they appear. Unlike the Dolch lists, it includes nouns, verbs and adjectives alongside the small connecting words, so it reaches further into the vocabulary a reader needs for chapter books. Reading specialists often use it as a next step once a child has worked through the Dolch levels.

These pages cover the first three groups of one hundred. Words are numbered by frequency, so number 1 is the most common word in the list, and the numbers run on from one page to the next: words 1 to 100, 101 to 200, and 201 to 300. Because the order is by frequency rather than by difficulty, a child who stumbles on number 87 is meeting a very common word and should be able to master it quickly with practice.

Use each page as a running record. Ask the child to read down the columns, put a check in the box when a word comes at once, and keep the sheet in the student's folder. When a group is mostly checked, give the next hundred. A few words appear on the Dolch lists as well; that overlap is a useful signal that those words are worth extra practice.

How to use them

1. Print the first 100 for beginning readers, and the next groups as they progress.
2. Have the student read down each column while you follow along.
3. Check each word read at once; leave the others blank.
4. Practice five to eight unchecked words a day.
5. Re-read the whole page once a week and check new words.
6. Start the next hundred when the current page is mostly checked.

Classroom tips

• Number the words aloud occasionally; ranking by frequency is a quiet lesson in how language works.
• Have older struggling readers practice the first hundred in short sentences rather than in isolation.
• Use two copies: one the child keeps, one for your records, with dates in the margin as words are mastered.
• Mix in the Dolch nouns list if your readers need more concrete, picturable words.

Notes on this page

• Words are numbered in frequency order from Fry's 1,000 Instant Words. Published copies differ slightly; where they disagreed we used the reading shared by the most sources.

Where the facts come from

• California State University, San Bernardino, Fry's 1000 Instant Words quick check list: Words 1 to 300 in frequency order
• Literacy for All, The Instant Words: First, second and third hundred; used to settle word 99 and the boundary between groups
• sightwords.com, Fry first 100: First 100 cross-check
• Workybooks, Fry Sight Words First 100: First 100 cross-check

Last reviewed 2026-10-03. Handout Hero designs are original and made for this site. They are general reference material; check your own school, district or tradition where it matters.