Mind the Gap! 10 Fun Fill in the Blanks Activities for Any ESL Class
Fill in the Blank formats are used for a variety of educational activities, from tests and quizzes to worksheets and mad libs. They can serve as excellent practice for students learning to read and write for the first time, but they can also be used for listening activities. And for teachers, fill in the blank activities are fairly easy to create and grade because questions can only have one answer in most cases.
We've looked high and low for the best fill in the blank worksheets, and this roundup of activities covers subjects across the board, from prepositions to synonyms to action verbs. Take a look at our list and feel free to download as many as you'd like!
Fill in the Blank Worksheets
-
1
Prepositions
-
If you're students are learning about prepositions, this is an excellent resource to help them put their new knowledge to the test. The worksheet presents nine fill-in-the-blank questions with common prepoitions in a word bank, like on, beside, in, behind, under, and front of. The activity even comes with a quick video that would be perfect to play at the beginning of the lesson to introduce the topic to students. The prepositions fill in the blank activity is great for beginners.
-
2
Postcards from Somewhere Madlib
-
Some of the best fill in the blanks worksheets are madlibs, allowing students to channel their creative side and practice common vocabulary. This activity asks students to make a list of nouns, verbs, names, adjectives, and more to help set them up for their fill in the blank activity. Then, they will take those words and add them to the blanks in the madlib story. The prompt is from the perspective of someone writing to their parents from a vacation destination. Remind students not to read the story beforehand so their answers are funnier!
-
3
Let it Go Song Worksheet
- It's hard to find a little one who doesn't know the lyrics Frozen songs "Let It Go" and "Summer." This fun worksheet gives students the chance to fill in missing lyrics with terms from a word bank. While it's not necessarily targeting a specific skill, it's a light-hearted, fun way to start out any class, and you can either play the song while students are working on the assignment and/or use the song to cross-check answers, depending on the level of difficulty you are looking for.
-
4
Fill in the Blanks with Synonyms
- Beginner ESL students will love this adorable worksheet that's perfect to use if you're teaching synonyms. It's a quick, three-question activity that gives students orginal sentences with underlined words. After reading the original sentences, they are challenged with choosing a synonym to the underlined word from the word bank. After students complete the fill in the blanks worksheet, they can color the images.
-
5
Party Time! Idioms Fill in the Blank
-
The Party Time fill in the blanks activity is great for intermediate students and above. It's a three-part worksheet focusing on vocabulary and conversation around parties. In the first activity, learners will complete the sentences with vocab from the word bank. Then, they will move onto the next two section where they answer open-ended questions about party planning and their experiences with parties they've gone to in the past.
-
6
Going Shopping Fill in the Blank Conversation
- Conversation activities are always a great way to introduce new topics and practice speaking for ESL students. With this worksheet, elementary and pre-intermediate students will be asked to read through a conversation about going shopping and fill in the blanks with the appropriate word or expression, as well as fill in some blanks with written numbers. Once students are finished, they can read outloud with a partner to roleplay the shopping experience.
-
7
Action Verbs
- Learning action verbs is a foundational part of any young learner's vocabularly, and this worksheet gives students the opportunity to identify, write, and read common action verbs on their own. In this activity, students are presented with a list of action verbs that have a letter missing in each word. They are asked to fill in the missing letter to complete the word and then write in what they can and can't do using these action verbs. This activity is ideal for beginner ESL students or early elementary students.
-
8
Future Forms
-
Teaching future forms or plan to soon? This worksheet is the perfect resource to help explain future forms to elementary or pre-intermediate students, as well as give them practice with a fill in the blank activity. The attached future forms chart outlines present simple, present continuous, will + infinitive, going to + infinitive, and signal words. It' a great resource to keep on hand as students move through lessons about future forms. The worksheet on the second page gives students a sentence with a verb, and they are asked to fill in the future form of that word to complete the sentence.
-
9
Ed Sheeran Happier Fill in the Blank Lyrics
-
One of the best ways to practice listening skills is with song worksheets. This activity covers Ed Sheeraan's Happier, and students are asked to listen to the song and fill in the blanks with the appropriate lyrics. You can play it once or twice depending on the level of difficulty you are trying to achieve. There is an attached music video for the song, as well, so you can play that for students after you wrap up the activity (playing it during the activity may be too distracting).
For more ESL activities, check out this roundup of short/long vowel worksheets!
