ESL Vocabulary Games
Bluff

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 who know the definition stand up. Students ca... read more
Collocation Ladder

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. Explain that each word on the ladder makes a collocation wi... read more
Over the Line

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 teams have finished... read more
People to People

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 'leader'. The leader calls out different parts of the body fo... read more
Ships of War

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 job is to mem... read more
Vocabulary Deck

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 the board. Choose a category,... read more