A selection of English ESL 'word games' printables

Culture, intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication

Adjectives to describe feelings, emotions

Adjectives to describe personality and character

Adjectives: Gradable / Non-gradable adjectives

Articles: Definite or indefinite article (a, an or the)

BE + infinitive structures (e.g. he was to become famous)

Clauses of contrast (e.g.  although, while)

Clauses of purpose (e.g. in order to, so that, so as to)

Clauses of reason (e.g. because, because of, due to, as, since)

Cleft sentences (e.g. It's Joey we're looking for)

Comparison: Comparative adjectives and structures

Comparison: Superlative adjectives and structures

Conditional 2 (second conditional) - would

Conditionals: Conditional phrases (e.g. unless, provided that, as long as)

Conjunctions (aka connectives, e.g. and, but, or, so, then)

Contractions (shortened forms, e.g. don't, aren't, etc.)

Determiners (words that can come before nouns)

Formal and informal English (politeness or colloquial language)

Future perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Future perfect simple and continuous (progressive) tense

Future phrases (e.g. be about to, bound to, likely to, due to, set to + INF)

Homonyms (two words with the same pronunciation - homophones and homographs)

It as preparatory subject (e.g. it's raining, it's nice of you to)

Linking verbs (aka copulas, e.g. I am a student)

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how to accuse somebody of something in English

how to apologize, say sorry, forgive and express regret in English

how to ask for information and make inquiries in English

how to ask for something, make requests in English

how to blame somebody for something in English

how to defend yourself from criticism in English

how to deny or admit something in English

how to describe things or people in English

how to emphasize important things in English

how to encourage or discourage people in English

how to evaluate people or progress in English

how to express agreement /disagreement in English

how to express approval and disapproval  in English

how to express cause and effect in English

how to express interest in something in English

how to express likelihood, probability in English

how to express likes and dislikes in English

how to express sequence and chronology in English

how to express shock and disbelief in English

how to express sympathy and condolences in English

how to give permission, authorization in English

how to inform somebody about some news in English

how to interpret what was said in English

how to keep a conversation going in English

how to make guesses about something in English

how to make, accept and refuse offers in English

how to order or make a booking in English

how to persuade, convince people in English

how to praise people and express appreciation in English

how to reassure somebody of something in English

how to refuse and object to something in English

how to remind people of something in English

how to rephrase, paraphrase what was said in English

how to say thank you, express gratitude in English

Nouns: Collective nouns (team, class, family, committee)

Nouns: Proper nouns (names of people, cities, companies)

Oxymorons (phrases with words of contradictory meaning, e.g. living dead)

Participles: Past participle (e.g. HAVING DONE)

Participles: Present participle (e.g. DOING)

Parts of Speech (aka word classes, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

Past perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Phonetics (pronunciation, IPA, phonetic symbols)

Plural nouns: regular plurals with S ending

Prefixes (e.g. A, UN, IM, DIS, MIS, EN, etc. )

Prepositions vs adverbs (e.g. before me, saw him before.)

Prepositions: Double prepositions (e.g. out of)

Prepositions: Participle prepositions (e.g. pending, concerning)

Prepositions: Phrase prepositions (e.g. by means of)

Present perfect continuous (progressive) tense

Present perfect simple or present continuous tense

Present simple tense: S for third person singular verbs

Present simple vs continuous (progressive) tense

Pronouns: EACH OTHER, ONE ANOTHER (reciprocal pronouns)

Pronouns: Possessive pronouns (e.g. my, mine)

Pronouns: Reflexive pronouns (e.g. myself, yourself))

Pronouns: SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, EVERYBODY, NO ONE, NOTHING, etc.

Pronouns: THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE (demonstratives)

Pronouns: YOU and THEY to talk about people in general

Quantifiers (e.g. some, many, much, any, few, little)

Questions: WH questions (open-ended questions)

Reported speech: reported questions (indirect questions)

There is / there are / there was / there were / there will be, etc.

Verbs: Transitive or intransitive verbs (words that can or cannot stand with objects)

Working with Paragraphs: ordering, titling

Role play, miming, drama activity or improv game

Pictionary (picture dictionary) or picture matching

Writing an opinion essay (persuasive essay)

Learners who are Pre-A1 have just begun learning English and will first learn how to:<ul><li>Say the letters in the alphabet and numbers</li><li>Say hello, talk about names and age</li><li>Name the colors and dates, express likes and dislikes</li></ul>

Absolute beginners who have begun to learn the letters and numbers

Learners taking the A1 Elementary exam should be able to:<ul><li>Introduce themselves and ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, things he/she has, people he/she knows.</li><li>Communicate using very basic phrases as long as the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: common adjectives & adverbs of frequency, going to, how much/how many, imperatives, I'd like, 's – possessive, common prepositions of place and time, present simple & continuous, there is/are</li></ul>

A very basic tourist level, which is enough for buying food and a bus ticket

Learners taking the A2 Pre-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand sentences and frequently used expressions (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).</li><li>Complete tasks that are routine and exchange information about familiar matters.</li><li>Describe matters of immediate need in simple terms.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: countable/uncountable nouns, adverbs of frequency, future will/going to, much/many, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, common phrasal verbs, common modals: can/should</li></ul>

A tourist who can do basic conversations about the past, present and future

Learners taking the B1 Intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand points regarding family, work, school or leisure-related topics.</li><li>Deal with most travel situations in areas where the language is spoken.</li><li>Create simple texts on topics of personal interest.</li><li>Describe experiences, events, dreams, and ambitions, as well as opinions or plans in brief.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: question tags, intensifiers: too/enough, future tenses, past tenses, modals, conditionals, wh-questions in the past</li></ul>

Learners who can deal with both familiar and routine situations, in friendly and work contexts

Learners taking the B2 Upper-intermediate exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialization.</li><li>Interact with fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without difficulty for either party.</li><li>Produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain an opinion on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.</li><li>Main grammar points to know: perfect tenses, mixed conditionals, modals in the present, phrasal verbs, reported speech, wish, relative clauses</li></ul>

The level where you can be a tour guide for your foreign friends and talk about a lot of topics, even abstract ones, with ease and fluency

Learners taking the C1 Advanced exam should be able to: Express ideas fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions. Use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes. Understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts. Produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, using linking phrases (=words that connect ideas between sentences). Main grammar points to know: inversion, mixed conditionals, modals in the past, all passive forms, phrasal verbs (all patterns), wish/if only for regrets

Learners who can smoothly communicate in every walk of life, read long texts and write well

Learners taking the C2 Proficient exam should be able to:<ul><li>Understand almost everything read or heard with ease.</li><li>Summarize information from a variety of sources into a coherent presentation.</li><li>Express themselves using precise meaning in complex scenarios.</li><li>Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in the most complex situations</li></ul>

Get here and you are ready to study in English at university

Short writing exercise in response to famous sayings. Ag good way to start writing practice with a good idea and a short response. This is for intermediate students.

Word Games + Writing Exercise

Everybody has their own test. The pupils have to write down the name, place, animal etc. for the starting letter. Who finishes first says STOP and other pupils have to stop writing. 





Word game B1-B2

Words+words is  a game  we use in class.Students love playing it.It can be played as a team game too.students can check  vocabulary, tenses,prepositions,adjectives an so on.  It’s very easy to play.You and your students have to form different words from the "mysterious" square, there are more than a hundred words hidden in it,for example: if the letters t -c-a- are in the square you can form CAT.If there are 2 letters e, you can form BEE, it doesn't matter the order .You and your students have to have an additional paper so you write the words there .Don't let your students write on the square.:)

words+words game July2015

This game was inspired by a game introduced in The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Your students can play this game in groups or you can divide the wole class into two or more teams. The leader of a team chooses one card and then must give their teammates one-word clues for them to guess the green word (SAFE WORD). If after giving a clue the team say the red word (DANGER WORD), they lose their point. 

It's a really fun game to play even in big groups. Enjoy!

Danger/ safe word (game)

Everybody has their own paper. The pupils have to write down the name, place, animal etc. for the starting letter. Who finishes first says STOP and other pupils have to stop writing. 





Word game A1-A2

Here you can find picture crossword and look-for-words game. It's best suitable for children 7-8 years old, who studies English like a foreign language. Hope, it will be usefull! Play and repeat. With keys for both games!
For Russian leaners: Suitable for Komarova Yu. - 2th grade ( Составлено к учебнику Комарова и Ларионова - 2 класс, ориентировочно середина-конец третьей четверти))

Word games for kids

Name countries, food, animals,  plants, clothes and accessories, verbs and adjectives starting with a random letter. The letter is chosen by one player saying "stop", while the other player is going through the alphabet in their mind. You score the answers following the rules: the only person to complete a category, all the other players have this gap blank - 15 pts, the gap is completed by more than a single player, however, the words differ - 10 pts, the gap is completed by more than a single player, however, the word repeats itself - 5 pts.

Countries, cities - word game

Ask students to work individually, in pairs or in small groups. Set the time limit. Ask them to write as many words as they can withing the time limit. The rule is that they need to create a word beginning with the last letter of the previous word.

Back to school - word game

LEXICON – The Classic Word Game Lexicon is the classic playing card word game which has been a firm favourite since the 1930’s. Rules for three different games are included – for varying numbers of players, but all are based on the theme of word making. Master Lexicon is a game to make up words. Lexicon Criss-Cross is a crossword type game Lexicon Riddance is a race to use up cards. This file includes 112 letter cards (copy and laminate if possible) and instructions how to play. 

Lexicon - Classic Playing Card Word Game

Unit 04 1as Eureka word games word search + crossword, better to be used at the end of the unit. Unit 04 1as Eureka word games word search + crossword, better to be used at the end of the unit

Unit 04 1as Eureka word games

Here are 50 questions for Snakes and Ladders.  Please prepare blank "Snakes and Ladders" template with 50 spaces. Questions are all "Name 3 words" such as 
1.	Name 3 words beginning with the letter “d” .  
2.	Name 3 things that can fly. 
3.	Name 3 red fruits. 
4.	Name 3 things that need electricity.



Snakes and Ladders 50 Questions - Name 3 Word Game

Students must make words using the letters found in the witch's cauldron. There are 8 letters in total and students have 10 minutes to come up with as many words as they can. This is a great activity for young students and older students who can come up with more difficult word combinations. There is a matching video with a beautiful witch's cauldron and magical music to create a fun Halloween ambiance:  https://youtu.be/HTPWtAH_59c


The letters used: A, E, T, R, N, O, L, C


The worksheet also includes space for students to write sentences using the words they have made. The second page contains a teacher guide with word combination possibilities and more lesson ideas. I hope you enjoy!

26 'word games' English ESL worksheets pdf & doc