ESL Vocabulary Games
Bluff

ESL Defining Words Game - Vocabulary and Speaking: Bluffing, Guessing, Defining - Group Work
In this fun defining vocabulary game, students give definitions for words and try to bluff their ability to give definitions in order to score more points. Give one team a word to define. All the students in the team...
Collocation Ladder

ESL Collocations Game - Vocabulary: Forming Words from Prompts, Spelling, Guessing - Group Work
This vocabulary game can be used to help students practice collocations. Write the first and last word of your run-on collocations in a ladder on the board, leaving empty rungs for the words in between...
Over the Line

ESL Vocabulary Game - Vocabulary: Drawing, Matching - Group Work
This is an imaginative vocabulary game for practicing words with students. Write target vocabulary you want the students to practice on the board. In two teams, students then make a drawing of each word on a separate piece of paper. When both...
People to People

ESL Parts of the Body Game - Vocabulary and Listening: Following Instructions - Pair Work
Here is a fun vocabulary game for practicing parts of the body. You will need an odd number of students to play this game. Ask all the students to find a partner. The student without a partner is the...
Ships of War

ESL Vocabulary Game - Vocabulary: Revision - Group Work
Here is an engaging vocabulary game to help students revise category words. Explain that each team is a warship. Each team then chooses a name for their ship, a captain and a shooter. The captain's job is to memorize the ship's name. The shooter's...
Vocabulary Deck

ESL Vocabulary Game - Vocabulary: Forming Words from Prompts - Group Work
This ESL vocabulary game is useful for practicing categories of words. Tell the students that they are going to play a vocabulary game using a pack of playing cards. Assign each card (ace to king) with two letters and write them on...