What is inside the vocabulary worksheets library
Every file is ready to teach. The card shows the level band and the theme, and the teacher version has the answer key included, so all you have to do is print it or share your screen. Most sheets stop at twelve items. In our experience that is about as many new words as an adult can take in during one lesson and still remember the next day.
- Topic-based word lists that stick to one theme, so the same words keep coming up in the tasks
- Phrasal verb and collocation sheets that teach whole chunks of language, like make a decision or run out of time
- Idiom sheets that show where each idiom is used, along with what it means
- A Quizlet set for every lesson, so students can revise between classes
- Homework and revision tasks that bring the same twelve items back a week later
Some of the ESL vocabulary worksheets have a Free badge and open without a subscription. Try one of those first if you want to see the format.
Vocabulary worksheets by topic and level
You can filter by topic and by level, and you need both. A word set on the right theme at the wrong level turns the lesson into a translation exercise. The catalog covers the CEFR levels A1 to C1 in four overlapping bands. The topic categories include food, travel, work, technology, and family and relationships.
| CEFR level | Example topic | Worksheet type |
| A1-A2 | Weather, clothes, daily routine | Twelve concrete words with matching, gap-fill and one personal question at the end |
| A2-B1 | Study habits, shopping, travel | Twelve words with their common collocations and a short speaking task |
| B1-B2 | Work, relationships, health | Phrasal verbs and fixed expressions, grouped by the situation they are used in |
| B2-C1 | Psychology, technology, ethics | Idioms, register and hedging, with a rewriting task that changes the tone |
An ESL vocabulary list works best when the words belong together. That is why every sheet is built around a theme and never around the alphabet. You can combine filters to find, say, a B1-B2 sheet on work vocabulary in two clicks. Seasonal themes are in the same catalog, which helps in October, when half the class wants to talk about the weather anyway.
If you don't know a new student's level yet, the placement test checks grammar and everyday vocabulary and gives you a CEFR level in about fifteen minutes.
Vocabulary activities and games that reinforce the words
Students who only write new words down tend to forget them. The ESL vocabulary activities in these lessons get students saying the twelve items out loud until the English phrase comes to mind before the translation does.
- A vocabulary lead-in at the start of the lesson, which introduces the key items before the reading or listening text uses them
- Matching tasks that pair each phrase with a situation where it is used, which works better than matching it to a dictionary definition
- Gap-fill and sorting exercises, where students put the words on a scale, from formal to informal or from mild to strong
- Student A and Student B speaking tasks that students can only finish by using the new items
Most of these ESL vocabulary activities take five to ten minutes. Use one after the controlled exercises, and repeat it at the start of the next lesson, when the words have started to slip. The pair tasks are written for groups, so in a one-to-one lesson you play the second student.
Most vocabulary lessons also come with a revision game built in Genially, such as an escape room, a quiz or a tic-tac-toe board. These ESL vocabulary games bring the twelve items back in the next class or as homework, and they come with the Pro plan. Many lessons also end with a speaking task that plays like a game.
How the words come back
A lot of vocabulary material is published one topic at a time, with no plan for what comes next. Students learn forty words about food, then forty about sport, and they rarely see most of those words again. The files themselves can be fine. The trouble is that nothing brings the words back.
Our sheets follow a lexical approach, and every item gets the same treatment. Students learn its meaning, how it is spelled and pronounced, the words it usually goes with, and whether it sounds formal or casual. When students learn a word like that, they can use it. When they have only seen a translation, they will recognize the word and not much more.
We also plan for the words to come back. Each lesson has a Quizlet set, homework that reuses the same items, ESL vocabulary games for revision, and revision tasks in a later lesson. That is spaced vocabulary practice, spread over several days so that students don't meet all the practice in one sitting. The worksheet is the first time students see the words, and the Quizlet set, the homework and the later revision tasks bring them back.
Reading helps too, because vocabulary in context is easier to remember than an ESL vocabulary list on its own. Pair a theme sheet with a text on the same subject from the reading section, and your students will see the words twice in one week, in two different settings.
Vocabulary worksheets in PDF, ready to print or teach online
Every sheet downloads as a PDF. If you were searching for ESL vocabulary worksheets PDF files that you can print, and don't want exercises that only work in a browser, these will suit you. The layout prints cleanly on any printer. The teacher pages are separate from the student pages, so you can print a class set that doesn't include the answers.
In an online lesson, share the file on screen and scroll to one exercise at a time. Writing on the shared page while your student answers usually works better than sending the file and waiting for it to download. If your students use tablets, send the file before the lesson. You will find these sheets in the full handout section as well, together with grammar and reading sheets in the same format.
Get access to the vocabulary library
You can't buy the ESL vocabulary worksheets one by one. They come with the teacher subscription, which also includes the whole library, a Quizlet set for every lesson, and both General and Business English. Standard is 72 dollars a year. Plus is 120 and adds homework. For vocabulary we'd suggest Plus, because homework gives students a second meeting with the twelve items. Pro is 144 and adds interactive homework, revision games and a Miro board for each lesson.
The higher plans add more of the revision, including the ESL vocabulary games on Pro, so you have less of it to prepare yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Do the worksheets come with an answer key?
Yes. Every one of our ESL vocabulary worksheets has a teacher version with the answers, on pages that are separate from the student material. You can print just the student pages for the class.
Do these work in online lessons?
Yes. Share the PDF on screen and go through one exercise at a time. Matching and gap-fill are the easiest ESL vocabulary activities to run online. The Quizlet set gives your student something to practice between lessons, and there is no extra file to download.
Which level should I start a new student on?
Start one band below your guess. If the twelve items are too easy, you can move up during the lesson. Too easy costs you ten minutes. Two bands too hard costs you the whole lesson.
How often are new topics added?
We add six to eight new lesson plans to the library every month, and many of them teach vocabulary.
How many words does one worksheet teach?
Usually twelve, and we keep it there on purpose. Twelve items, with their collocations and a speaking task, are enough for a full lesson. A thirty-word ESL vocabulary list looks fuller on the page, but students tend to remember very few of the words.