Best ESL Crosswords for All Levels

Using crossword puzzles in the classroom is more than a way to pass time. Teachers can utilize these worksheets as a way to truly educate their students on new subjects in an impactful, fun way. In fact, crosswords are known to be a helpful tool for both visual and auditory learners, and they laser in on vocabulary, spelling, and reading skills, as well.

If you're teaching a new lesson to your students, whether it's about science, math, or everyday vocabulary, you can use crosswords to help them learn new words and phrases, as well as retain the spelling, pronunciation, and usage of those words. Plus, students enjoy doing crosswords and often feel a sense of accomplishment when they are finished with them. Feel free to download any of these ESL crossword worksheets to use in your classroom or as extra practice for students at home.

Best ESL Crosswords for All Levels

1. 1

   Present Perfect and Simple Past

   Teaching verb tenses in a new language is never easy. Heck, it's not a walk in the park when teaching them in a child's native language. However, with this Present Perfect and Simple Past worksheet, students will get the practice they need to master the verb tenses. In 14 questions, students will have to fill in the correct verb in the right tense to complete the sentence. Then, they will fill in the crossword to check if their answers are correct. If the words don't fit in the boxes, they will know they need to go back to the original question and try again. 

2. 2

   Present Continuous

   This crossword is perfect for complete beginner ESL students. There are 10 simple fill-in-the-blank questions for students to answer before adding the words to the crossword puzzle. This worksheet will help young learners adopt new and common action words into their vocabulary, like read, write, and sleep. It's also a great worksheet for parents to print off for their little ones to use at home for extra practice!

3. 3

   Comparatives and Supleratives

4. The Comparitives and Superlatives worksheet is set up more like a wordsearch, but it's a very helpful tool to help students learn about this subject. Students will be asked to find the adjectives on the grid and class them into opposite pairs. Then, they will fill out a chart that requires them to come up with the comparative and superlative versions of the adjectives they found in the wordsearch. And finally, students will need to write three sentences that contain the comparitive form and three that contain the superlative. We reccommend using this worksheet once your students are already fairly comfortable with these forms, rather than as an introductory lesson. 
5. 4

   Valentine's Crossword

   Valentine's Day is fun no matter what age the kids are, and this simple crossword is a great way to start off the day of celebration. It's appropriate for beginner ESL and elementary students who have some familiarity with the English language. There is no wordbank or definitions, but there are letters filled in some of the boxes to gives students clues about what to fill in. If it's challenging for students, allow them to work in groups and go over the answers after everyone has completed the activity. 

6. 5

   New Years Crossword

   This crossword is the perfect way to teach students about phrases surrounding the new year. It's colorful and exciting, reminding students of all the fun that goes into celebrating January 1. Teachers and parents can use this worksheet for multiple levels (it's very simple), and all students need to do is fill in the boxes with the terms from the word bank. Since most students are on winter break during New Years, you can send this home with them before break to have some extra practice while they are away from the classroom. 

7. 6

   Environment Crossword

   Planning a lesson about recyling or another environmental topic? You can use this crossword to give students practice reading, writing, and speaking vocabularly about the environment, such as flood, reuse, reduce, pollution, and landfill. The worksheet asks students to read defintions and match them with the appropriate term in the word bank. Then fill in those words in the crossword. We recommend utilizing this activity for more advanced ESL students.

8. 7

   At the Airport

   Who doesn't love to travel and get to see new places? Students will love this colorful exciting crossword that showcases important travelling terms and definitions. They will need to read each definition and determine which word should go in the boxes. This activity can work for many levels, but your students will need to have strong reading skills to be able to complete it. Once students are finished with the crossword, you can use it as a speaking activity to prompt conversation about where they have travelled, if they like airports, and where they would like to go in the future. 

9. 8

   Christmas

   This holiday worksheet is a fun way to get students excited about Christmastime. It was created particularly for students in England, but it will work for many other countries as well. Students will be asked to complete the crossword puzzle by reading the definitions and filling in the appropriate term. Once the crossword is completed, they will finish with an additional fill in the blank activitiy. This resource also provides the worksheet in both color and black and white, so you can use the black and white version if you'd like to give students the opportunity to color in the images. 

10. 9

    Computers and Internet

    Kids of all ages are tech savvy these days, so yours will love getting to put their knowledge about computers and the internet to the test. This crossword is for more advanced ESL students, as it gives the defintion of the word, and students must recall what the term is and add it to the crossword. They are given hints with one or two letters already filled in, and the exercise becomes easier the further into it they get. This crossword is ideal for pre-intermediate and intermediate ESL students. 

11. 10

    Food Picture Crossword

12. This appetizing crossword is ideal for early elementary students and beginner ESL students, as it introduces common American food items such as burgers, hot dogs, cake, soup, and pizza. Students will follow the simple instructions and fill in the words across and down to complete the crossword puzzle. Each of the items listed is also displayed in an image with a blank circle next to it. Students should fill in the number of the appropriate food item to match the word with the photo. 

For more ESL practice, check out these Fill in the Blanks Worksheets.