This vowel team makes two sounds /ou/, as in “cow”, and /ō/ as in row. Either are found at beginning, middle, and ends of words and syllables. Look at this image and decide how it can help you remember the two sounds of vowel team OW.

Across many words, vowel team OW most often says /ou/, like in “cow”. In some words, especially when OW is followed by L, the /ou/ sound is fairly reliable, as in “growl” or fowl”.   The common exception is “bowl”.