80 FREE Brainteasers Worksheets
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FREE Brainteasers

If you are looking for a challenge you are in the right place. Brainteasers sometimes force students to think about situations a little differently so here you can find 80 worksheets including quizzes, puzzles, and riddles. This brainteaser worksheet has a simple riddle that is not really related to ESL but that your students might enjoy if you structure it as a short reading and speaking activity where students have to read the riddle and also present their answers to the class. The answer is posted as the first comment and is really quite clever. If you think that perhaps another type of activity would be better for your class, there are many more to choose from. If the preview does not give you a clear enough idea of the worksheet, simply download it onto your computer and look over the whole thing.
Brainteasers can be fun for students and are definitely challenging but unless there is a direct connection to ESL, try to keep these activities short so that students can maximize their time studying more common, everyday topics. On the other hand, some would argue that brainteasers help students with their problem solving and logic skills which are both very important for learners of any age. To help you decide whether or not brainteasers are right for you class, try one out and see how your students react. If they are enthusiastic about solving puzzles then you should feel free to include them in some of your lessons but if students struggle, give up, or become frustrated consider other activities instead.

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What Are Brainteasers?
A brain teaser is a form of puzzle that requires thought to solve. It often requires thinking in unconventional ways with given constraints in mind; sometimes it also involves lateral thinking. Logic puzzles and riddles are specific types of brain teasers. One of the earliest known brain teaser enthusiasts was the Greek mathematician Archimedes. He devised mathematical problems for his contemporaries to solve. One can argue about the answers of many brain teasers; in the given example with hens, one might claim that all the eggs in the question were laid in the first day, so the answer would be three. Some brainteasers can have many ways to get the solution.
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Source: Brainteasers on Freebase, licensed under CC-BY
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Linkedin Multiple Choice

Linkedin Multiple Choice

Arlindo Marco Fialho
    This multiple-choice cloze test is for students of English as a Second language at Level: B2 (upper-intermediate). This worksheet is helpful for tests such as FCE and IELTS and c ...
1 Views 17,149 Adv
Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods

Arlindo Marco Fialho
  This worksheet features a short passage about the American golfer Tiger Woods. Students should find the right words and fill in the blanks. Written for iB1 Level intermediate students of ...
1 Views 5,088 Int
How Good Is Your Vocabulary?

How Good Is Your Vocabulary?

Arlindo Marco Fialho
, , Brainteasers,
  This ESL activity consists of 20 multiple-choice questions designed for students planning to take ESL exams such as FCE, CAE, IELTS, TOEFL, and TOEIC. It's a productive exercise to help ...
1 Views 7,196 AdvExam
The Right Word

The Right Word

Marco Fialho
Brainteasers,
  This short worksheet is for students at the upper- intermediate level. It focuses on vocabulary and includes a fill-in-the-gap exercise. It might be helpful for those who intend to take ...
1 Views 20,561 Adv
My Name is Special

My Name is Special

Lynne McCormick
, , , Brainteasers
  Each student has their own unique name. What better way to learn how to spell it than to try with both capital letters and small letters? Line all the letters vertically. Ask the childre ...
1 Views 7,264 BegElem
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Creative thinking – Rebus puzzles

Creative thinking – Rebus puzzles

, , Brainteasers
  Get your students' brains ticking with this creative thinking activity: Rebus puzzles are little pictures, often made with letters and words, which cryptically represent a word, phr ...
1 Views 17,227 Elem
Describing Words ppt

Describing Words ppt

Mariyam
  This PowerPoint presentation is all about adjectives (describing words). Look at the picture clue and give the describing words then remove the boxes to reveal the next picture clue. It ...
1 Views 12,480 BegElem
Rhymes Match

Rhymes Match

Helen Close
  Learn how to pronounce rhyming words when the spelling is different by matching lists of rhyming words to their pronunciation. Students need to listen carefully to hear the correct match ...
1 Views 17,782 Pre-IntIntAdv
Creative Thinking - Name Five Things That...

Creative Thinking - Name Five Things That...

, Brainteasers
This creative thinking exercise was created by www.primaryleap.co.uk Do your students have their thinking caps on? This activity will improve your student's creative thinking and writing skills. ...
1 Views 15,744 Elem
Idiom Activity and Worksheet

Idiom Activity and Worksheet

L.Spence
Brainteasers, , ,
This activity and worksheet is to be paired with the read aloud Butterflies in my Stomach and other School Hazards. I prepared this for my adult ESL students. Students should read the book as a c ...
1 Views 19,676 All
Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Judy Garland)

Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Judy Garland)

Marie Devátá
Worksheet based on Judy Garland's song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from the movie The Wizard of Oz. Song is slow and it's easy to catch the missing words. The first letters of the words have been ...
1 Views 13,962 BegElem
Science Memes

Science Memes

Kauê Moura
, , Brainteasers,
Who doesn't like memes? Students sure do! This worksheet will help you warm-up for a class about science, or maybe you can assign it as homework after said class. Teenagers and younger adults will ...
4 Views 25,164 Pre-Int
Is it a Palindrome?

Is it a Palindrome?

Brainteasers,
A palindrome is a word that is spelled the same forward and backward. Look at each word. Determine whether it is a palindrome. After completing the worksheet, try to think of some other palindrom ...
4 Views 19,344 IntAdv
Brainteaser

Brainteaser

» Brainteasers
Here are several brainteasers. Doing some type of mental exercise in the form of brain teasers or word and number games can boost overall brain activity. increase your memory power, reduce the ri ...
8 Views 41,756 Pre-IntInt
Cryptofun

Cryptofun

Luc Wyn
This is a page of cryptograms I made, using http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/cryptogramSetupForm.asp. The idea is to solve the puzzle by converting numbers into letters. It is a great way ...
4 Views 25,829 ElemPre-IntIntAdvExam
Work Puzzle

Work Puzzle

MICHAEL M. MAGBANUA
This worksheet is recommended for Elementary level.  It features ten jobs known to level 2 students. It can be a used as review lesson or simply as an ice breaker for advanced learners. Stu ...
6 Views 39,305 ElemExam
Pairing Words with Amusing Results - a Challenging Warm-up Game

Pairing Words with Amusing Results - a Challenging Warm-up Game

Stephanie Hawkins
» Brainteasers
This is a fun warm-up vocabulary game, introducing unexpected pairs of words, which do not give an obvious indication of meaning, such as "clothes horse". As well as providing amusement, this ...
12 Views 15,873 IntAdv
Song Worksheet: There's No Good in Goodbye

Song Worksheet: There's No Good in Goodbye

This is a worksheet about finding missing words that are taken from phrases to form a different meaning. The worksheet is based on the Script's song "No Good in Goodbye". There is also an extra bo ...
6 Views 15,243 Pre-IntInt
Secret Thanksgiving Code

Secret Thanksgiving Code

Brainteasers,
This is a fun word puzzle for Thanksgiving. Students will have to find out a keyword by decoding scrambled letters. Each code letter represents the letter that comes right before it in the alphabe ...
6 Views 17,892 ElemPre-IntInt
International Words

International Words

» Brainteasers
This worksheet aims at the spelling of international words, such as "pizza", "football". Students see 8 signs, each with a word printed on it. They have to unscramble the words. This worksheet can ...
3 Views 13,042 BegElem
Mobile Scavenger Hunt

Mobile Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt is a game where you try to find certain objects or answers to clues. In this scavenger hunt you will use a mobile phone to give clues and hints to another team. This is ...
4 Views 31,581 IntAdv
4 Pictures 1 Word - Easy/Medium II

4 Pictures 1 Word - Easy/Medium II

Brainteasers,
This activity is based on the application for mobile phones. In this presentation you´ll find 15 pictures (15x4 if I should be precise). Every 4 pictures have something in common and the goa ...
10 Views 44,551 Pre-IntIntAdvExam
4 Pictures 1 Word - Medium, Difficult

4 Pictures 1 Word - Medium, Difficult

Brainteasers,
This activity is based on the application for mobile phones. In this presentation you´ll find 15 pictures (15x4 if I should be precise). Every 4 pictures have something in common and the goa ...
9 Views 23,518 IntAdvExam
4 Pictures 1 Word - Medium Difficulty

4 Pictures 1 Word - Medium Difficulty

Brainteasers,
It is based on the application for mobile phones. In this presentation you´ll find 15 pictures (15x4 if I should be precise). Every 4 pictures have something in common and the goal of the ss ...
11 Views 20,853 Pre-IntIntAdv
4 Pictures 1 Word - Difficult

4 Pictures 1 Word - Difficult

Brainteasers,
This activity is based on the application for mobile phones. In this presentation you´ll find 15 pictures (15x4 if I should be precise). Every 4 pictures have something in common and the goa ...
6 Views 18,229 IntAdvExam

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