ESL Word Games

ESL students need to develop their vocabulary as they progress. But drills and worksheets can get boring. Why not add some word games to your classes? These ESL word games will add some fun while students improve their vocabulary skills.

Word Creation
Print a big word on the board. It could be almost anything, but the more letters the better. Students must form as many words as they can using only the letters in the word. The students who come up with the most correct words are the winners.

Example: basketball

Possible words: tall, ask, bat, ball, etc.

This is a good one for a 5-minute break, or at the end of class.


Word Board
Make a letter matrix and have students find words that must connect in any way. Bigger matrices provide more word combinations.

A - C - L
J - I - K
M - S - N
R - A - B

Example: milk, link


Do you have any other word games?