A selection of English ESL guess the word printables

Students must guess 10 Valentine's Day words by filling in the two missing letters of each word. There is a matching video to go along with this activity: https://youtu.be/QtXfdqCfmSs


Students must write 7 sentences using the words in the first part of the activity. All words are related to Valentine's Day and contain 4 letters (love, kiss, hugs, card, dear, ring, date, pair, etc.) This is a great activity to play with students and help them improve their vocabulary and writing skills!

Guess the Valentine's Day Words Activity with Video (Game)

This worksheet can be used an an introduction or as a conclusion to a unit on climate change or going green. I use it by showing the video without the sound to start with, so pupils can try and guess what it is about. Then they listen and try to fill the worksheet without the video, only the sound, for more focus on the words, then we correct it together.

Fill in the gaps: Michael Jackson - Earth Song

Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember

You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end, always the end
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I'll admit that I was glad that it was over

But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing 
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough
No you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
But had me believing it was always something that I'd done
And I don't wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know

But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing 
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough
No you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Somebody, I used to know
(Somebody) Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Somebody, I used to know
(Somebody) Now you're just somebody that I used to know
I used to know, that I used to know, I used to know somebody

Gotye Somebody That I Used To Know

This is a different way to make sure your learners have mastered the irregular past tenses and their spellings. Learners have think what the words are from the jumbled up words with in the sentence. The meaning of the sentence is a good hint.

Irregular Past Tenses: Guess What the Scrambled Verb Is?

This worksheet is a fill in text, an easy one with a helping box. The pupils have to listen to the music and guess the right words. Since I am from Austria, there is also a translation sheet on page 2 for teachers from Austria or Germany. After the worksheet it is always nice to talk to the pupils about poor people.

Living in the Love of Common People - Paul Young

I used this worksheet to introduce Irregular Verbs. Students are often frightened by "the horrible list", so I created this to make them familiar with irregular verbs by easy and fun exercises WITHOUT telling them to learn the words. Before they would be shocked by the prospect of learning a lot of words they have already met them and worked with them. 

1) match the pairs (this should be guided by the instructor) students see both the present and the past tense form, they can guess the pairs;

2) based on the previous exercise they have to fill in a table, and then find those words in the wordsearch.

3) the third exercise places the words in context. Use the verbs in the brackets in Past Simple, then rewrite the sentence in the negative. The third sentence is a question in the students' native language, and it is to be translated (NB. not forming a question or answering it). Don't forget to delete mine from the worksheet.

Introduction to Irregular Verbs - Group 1 - Take Away the Fright

This lesson explores the evolution of slang and encourages students to create their own slang terms. Students will begin by discussing how slang changes and sharing examples they know. Then, they’ll read an article on slang through the decades and answer comprehension questions to deepen their understanding. Next, students work in small groups to invent 3-5 original slang words, including definitions and examples. Afterward, they will swap dictionaries with other groups to guess the meanings, followed by class presentations where each group explains their terms. The class will vote on the most creative slang word, fostering engagement and teamwork. To extend learning, students can scan a QR code to access additional online resources, such as quizzes or flashcards, to practice their new terms or explore modern slang. By the end of the lesson, students will have practiced collaboration, creativity, and language skills while gaining insight into how slang reflects cultural and social identity. This activity helps students connect language use with social trends and gives them the opportunity to reflect on the role slang plays in everyday communication.

Slang Through the Decades: A Look at How Language Changes

A fun but challenging exercise to help students expand their vocabulary. Pairs or groups of 3, if too hard. Encourage students to use bilingual dictionaries as they may well know the word that fits the gap in their L1 but not in English and that is okay! It helps them to become more curious about new words. Ask them afterwards to make their own sentences with other words starting with SM- and other students can guess them.  

Happy Endings Vocabulary Quiz (1) - Words starting with the letters SM- (B2/C1)

This is a perfect and amusing lyrics activity with a short biography of the singer, a wordsearch game and a short riddle to guess! (whose answer is "the clock").

 LYRICS ACTIVITY Imagine by John Lennon, Lyrics activity with a short biography of the singer, a wordsearch game and a short riddle to guess! (whose answer is "the clock")

Great activity to raise students awarness in listening. Students must listen and fill in the blanks. Great activity for students of any age. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Sabrina Carpenter - Please, please please

There are two games to play. Taboo as well as the traditional Guess Who. One may vary the games to make it a descriptive task with the instruction that  all the taboo words are to be used if Elementary level students are playing it. Hope you can find some use for it. 

Taboo, Guess who with characters and objects from Harry Potter

This crossword puzzle is designed to help ESL learners practice using have got / has got while learning vocabulary related to animals. Each clue describes an animal using physical traits or abilities, encouraging students to deduce the correct word using context clues.


Students read the descriptions and fill in the crossword using the correct animal name. The clues are written using have got / has got to reinforce grammar patterns and support comprehension. This task is great for group work, pair activities, or individual practice. 


Level: A1–A2 (Elementary) 
 Focus: Vocabulary (Animals), Grammar (Have/Has Got), Reading Comprehension 
 Skills: Reading, Writing, Vocabulary Recognition 


Tip: After completing the crossword, encourage students to create their own animal descriptions using have got / has got and challenge their classmates to guess which animal they are describing!

Crossword – Animals, Has got

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

337 Guess the word English ESL worksheets pdf & doc