If you’re looking for some of the best fill in the blank games and activities, then you’re in the right place! I’ll share my top picks for games, along with worksheets, fun questions, online practice and more! Stay tuned for everything fill-in-the-blanks.
Fill in the blank activities and games
Let’s get to the best fill in the blank activity and game ideas for all ages.
This is a simple activity for beginners. Find a simple story and take out some of the words, replacing them with blanks and simple pictures. Then, students can fill in the blanks with the words (cat, ice cream, blue, etc.) and read the finished story.
Some of my favourite fill in the blanks activities are the information gap ones. For example, each student has the same city map but each student has different buildings missing and they have to talk to each other to find out what they are.
Or, there’s a crime and each student has some of the clues but not all. Once they talk together, they can solve the crime. Check out some more ideas here:
Check out this fun website to make your own fill in the blanks worksheets and games. There are a ton of nice options and it’s very easy to use.
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Try out this challenging listening activity! A variation on it is to give students a fill in the blank worksheet with some of the key words missing, instead of having students take notes. They can listen and try to fill in the blanks with the correct word. Find out more:
Write down 4-5 sentences on the board. Ask students to read them and try to remember what’s in each of them. Erase 1-2 of the key words from each sentence and put a blank there and ask students what they are.
A nice way to work on spelling with students is to have some common words with one or two letters missing. Then, students have to fill in the letters. For example:
Surveys are one of my favourite 4-skills ESL activities and they are a nice fill-in-the-blank option. Students have to circulate around the class, finding someone who answers yes to each question. Once they do, they can ask a follow-up question and fill in the answer that their conversation partner gives them. Check them out:
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A nice option for a writing class is to print off some job application forms and have students fill them out. It’s nice to practice filling in the blanks for things like name, education, job history, etc. Learn more:
Fill in the blank worksheets and printables are ideal for the “All About Me” unit. Here are some of my favourite ideas and recommendations:
This is a nice listening activity that students really enjoy. Find a song and the lyrics that go along with it. Then, remove some of the words and put blanks in there instead. Then, students can listen to the song a couple of times, trying to complete the worksheet. I often use the song, “If I Had a Million Dollars” by the Barenaked Ladies for this.
A nice way to focus on listening and writing is to give students a worksheet with some of the words missing from each sentence. Then, say the sentences and students have to fill in the blanks with the correct word. To level up, make them questions and then students have to answer the questions in their own words. Find out more:
A nice way to help students get started with academic writing is to have them fill in the blanks for each paragraph in a 5-paragraph essay. They can fill out:
Using this structure really helps students stay organized when they’re writing. Find out more here:
Try out this fun speaking activity but add a bit of structure for beginners by giving them a worksheet with some blanks to fill in as they prepare for it:
