Multi-syllabic words can be challenging to remember and pronounce. In this article, we have compiled the many types of multi-syllabic words for you.
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What are Multi-Syllabic words?
As the word suggests, words with several syllables are known as multi-syllabic. Whether we notice it or not, most of the words we use contain multiple syllables. Most of the terms we use, from basic household objects to complex adjectives, are multi-syllabic.
Below is a list of words containing between two and five syllables.
| America | Finger | President |
| Apple | Flute | Purple |
| Application | Future | Quiet |
| April | Hamburger | Radio |
| Avocado | Hammer | Restroom |
| Banana | Handle | September |
| Basement | Hello | Signature |
| Bedroom | India | Single |
| Believe | Inside | Sister |
| Bicycle | Jacket | Sofa |
| Brother | Lemonade | Somalia |
| Cafeteria | Letter | Student |
| Canada | Lion | Table |
| Children | Macaroni | Teacher |
| Closet | Maple | Terrible |
| Coffee | Medication | Ticket |
| Conversation | Medium | Tomato |
| Cupboard | Microwave | Transportation |
| Dinosaur | Middle | Tuesday |
| Doctor | Multiplication | Umbrella |
| Dresser | Notebook | Upstairs |
| Eclipse | Occupation | Vacation |
| Education | Operation | Vegetable |
| Election | Outside | Vegetarian |
| English | Overtime | Weekend |
| Equal | Pineapple | Zipper |
| Female | Potato |
Open Syllables
A vowel at the end of a syllable indicates an open syllable. As in no, my, and us – there is nothing following the vowel. Note that ‘y’ is considered an open vowel. An open syllable is so named because the vowel is “open,” meaning that nothing follows it but open space. The lengthy sound of the vowel can be heard in words with open syllables.
Open syllables are uncommon in one-syllable words, although common in multi-syllabic ones.
- Banana
Sara was advised to eat a banana before going to the gym.
- Tomato
George has a few tomato plants in his backyard.
- Potato
The students learned to make a potato battery in school today.
- Macaroni
Marco’s grandmother makes macaroni from scratch and doesn’t use a pasta maker.
- Avocado
It takes about two months for an avocado pit to grow roots.
- Sofa
The dog is not allowed on the sofa, but he refuses to listen.
- America
The Grand Canyon is a touristic jewel in the United States of America.
- Canada
Canada makes claims to the North Pole along with Russia and Denmark.
- Bicycle
Zara just learned to ride a bicycle and takes it everywhere.
- Hello
She dropped by to say hello.
Closed Syllables
A vowel followed by a consonant in the most basic form makes up a closed syllable. A consonant “closes in” on the vowel, earning the moniker “closed syllable.” Vulnerable vowels tend to make short sounds in closed syllables.
Remember that a syllable can close with more than one consonant.
- Sister
My sister has made plans for the upcoming weekend with her friends.
- Finger
Dave cut his finger while preparing salad for dinner.
- Doctor
The doctor suggests I avoid junk food for a healthier heart.
- Hammer
Ron is working on a renovation at a friend’s house, but he forgot his hammer at home.
- Zipper
Amy cannot get her pants zipper to budge and is late for work.
- Letter
My grandmother and I used to be pen pals. I would receive a letter from her every week.
- September
The leaves change color and shed as the cold sets in September.
- Hamburger
Denise claims to have eaten the best hamburger last summer when he was invited to a barbecue party.
- Jacket
It is cold outside, so wear a jacket.
- Ticket
I found a ticket to a show on the sidewalk on my way home.
Double Vowels
When multi-syllabic words contain two vowels seated next to each other, we call them double vowels. Note that certain vowel combinations are difficult to pronounce, but while we break them down into syllables, the double vowels become part of the preceding or succeeding consonant’s syllable.
- Weekend
The thunderstorms ruined our weekend plans.
- Tuesday
Patricia’s birthday is Tuesday, but she has invited her friends over for a party on Saturday.
- Cupboard
You can find canned goods inside the cupboard.
- Teacher
Sandra works in a private school as an elementary-level Math teacher.
- Upstairs
I couldn’t sleep a wink because the upstairs neighbors had been moving their furniture all night.
- Coffee
You can recycle your used ground coffee beans as a body scrub that will make you smell like sweet coffee all day.
- Bedroom
The guest bedroom has a bathroom, but Kevin insists on using the one in the common area.
- Restroom
They had been driving all morning, and Sally needed to make a quick stop at the restroom.
- Dinosaur
The school took the kids to the museum where they saw dinosaur fossils from a hundred million years ago.
- Equal
I cut the apple in two but they were not equal parts.
Blends
Blends happen when words have a consonant and a vowel or a consonant and another consonant. They “blend” into one another instead of giving the consonant the vowel extension. These words are simple to break down into syllables. The consonant and the blend that follows are taken as one syllable.
For instance: Blend is broken down into Ble and nd. In this case, we notice two blends that make two syllables in this multi-syllable word.
- Closet
Andrew was scared of the monster in his closet, but it turned out to be an empty plastic bag moving to the wind.
- Dresser
The movers disassembled the mirror from the dresser before packing it in.
- President
There aren’t many men who could be described as benevolent. Still, our president has earned his respect through honest work.
- Umbrella
The beach was packed with families who drove down for the holidays. We could not find a spot to park our umbrella!
- English
Although easy to learn, English is difficult to master due to its lack of phonetic spellings.
- Children
The park is for children, but most parents also bring their dogs to play with them.
- Brother
Harry did not like that he got most of his clothes from his brother as hand-me-downs.
- Student
The same student disrupts the entire class, but Mr. Belcher was determined to teach his lessons today to the ones who would listen to him.
- Eclipse
Dave saw the solar eclipse through his old X-ray reports.
- Flute
Sara plays the flute and wants to join the orchestra.
Silent E
Some words have the vowel e, which is silent if preceded by a consonant. Note that this gives the consonant a heavy pronunciation.
- Inside
The rice balls my grandmother prepares always have a little surprise on the inside.
- Outside
Carrie suggested they move the party outside as it was getting too hot to stay indoors.
- Notebook
Ella protected the bag with her life because it contained a notebook from her late mother.
- Microwave
Everyone brought homemade food representing their culture, but Pam only got microwave popcorn.
- Signature
The chef was proud of his signature dish. It was an old family recipe he recreated to make it his own.
- Lemonade
The policeman was ridiculous; children don’t need permits to run a lemonade cart!
- Overtime
The engines running overtime caused the ship to sink to the bottom of the ocean.
- Basement
The children decided to take over the attic and the basement as their new bedrooms, leaving the actual bedrooms for the parents to use as home offices.
- Female
More female workers were hired last year than ever before.
- Future
The future of this company is very bright.
-Le
Much like the Silent E, words that end in -le also consider the suffix a singular syllable.
- Single
The papers did not cover a single auction from the last night’s charity event for the orphans but found space to write sleazy tabloids about movie stars.
- Purple
Jesse knit her nephew a purple baby blanket.
- Middle
Most people prefer the window seat for the view or the aisle seat for ease, but Charlie likes to seat himself in the middle.
- Table
The enormous table in the dining room could seat 52 people, but the management decided against overcrowding the space.
- Apple
Ron found himself in an orchard, but since it wasn’t the fruiting season, he could not enjoy an apple on this crisp, sunny morning.
- Pineapple
The parents did not realize their child was allergic to the pineapple on their pizza.
- Terrible
Their business faced terrible times when the pandemic hit.
- Vegetable
Bob’s grandfather would take him to the vegetable market every Sunday, where he would shop for a week’s worth of food and chat with his farmer friends until noon.
- Handle
The jug’s handle broke, and it now looks like a vase.
- Maple
Pancakes with maple syrup are comfort food for most people.
-Tion
Multi-syllable words that end in –tion are considered as one syllable.
- Application
His application came in late, but the university made an exception because of his family’s yearly donations to the university.
- Education
Universities allowing online learning has made education accessible to people from across the globe.
- Conversation
Some people prefer to have a deep and stimulating conversation over small talk.
- Occupation
It is unfair to expect sixteen-year-olds to find an occupation that would make them happy as adults.
- Operation
After the initial hiccups, the operation went smoothly, thanks to expert orders from the chief in command.
- Transportation
The townsfolk have difficulty traveling without a car as public transportation is unreliable in rural areas.
- Medication
Joey took part in a medical study, but he wasn’t sure whether the medication was real or a placebo.
- Multiplication
Maryam graduated 3rd grade but still finds it difficult to finish her multiplication homework without her father’s help.
- Vacation
I haven’t been on vacation in two years!
- Election
They are cleaning the streets as the election date is approaching.
I+Vowel
One could argue that this category is not different from double vowels, but we beg to differ. The pronunciation for multi-syllable words with i+vowel is more enunciated on both vowels. In contrast, one vowel is usually silent in the double vowel category words.
- Lion
Alex rushes home to watch his favorite lion documentary on TV.
- Quiet
Everyone stopped talking, but the quick, quiet glances spoke volumes despite the hush.
- India
Food in India is sacred; each meal is prepared with love and many spices.
- Somalia
After being disrespected, the delegate from Somalia refused to negotiate the terms of the agreement.
- Believe
Greg found it hard to believe that his puppy would tear open the pillows with such violence.
- Medium
The instructions said to cook over medium heat for five minutes.
- Cafeteria
The students could only afford food from the cafeteria, but they quickly realized how healthy and filling the portions were.
- Vegetarian
Sara is a vegetarian but will eat the occasional egg or meat product because she doesn’t want to inconvenience her hosts.
- Radio
The song became famous after being played on the radio.
- April
The assignment is due in April, but we need to start working on it today.
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