Opposites Hangman- Spelling and Guessing Game

Opposites Hangman- Spelling and Guessing Game

Warmer: Opposites volleyball

One person is the server. They should shout out one word which has an opposite, e.g.

“Morning” (because the opposite is afternoon or evening) or “Hot” (because the opposite is

cold). Their partner should shout out the opposite to return. Any word which could be the

opposite is okay. If anyone pauses too long, says a word which doesn’t have an opposite

(e.g. “Table”), or can’t think of an opposite, the other person scores a point. If the server

loses a point, the server also changes. The game can be played bouncing or catching the

ball, or just shouting out words without a ball.

Opposites hangman reading and guessing game

Choose a pair of opposites from below without telling anyone which one you chose and

write just a gap for each letter on the board, e.g. _ _ _ - _ _. The other students take turns

asking for one letter, e.g. “Can I have the right word, second letter, please?” They can try

to guess both words (just once) each time that they ask for a letter, without looking at the

list below. You get one point for each time that they ask for a letter and then can’t guess

the two words correctly.

yes – no

happy – sad

good – bad

fine – ill

hot – cold

long – short

fun – boring

breakfast – dinner

North – South

East – West

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2016

Southeast – Northwest

can – can’t

big – little

black – white

up – down

on – under

in front of – behind

in – out

January – December

winter – summer

mine – yours

he – she

boy – girl

male – female

man – woman

aunt – uncle

daughter – son

grandmother – grandfather

brother – sister

older – younger

Play the same game as above with your own ideas. They can be different opposites of the

words there (e.g. “big brother – big sister” or “grandmother – granddaughter”, or

completely different opposites, e.g. “rainy – sunny”).

Freer practice of opposites

Write down a pair of opposites which are different to those above. Say just one of the two

words. If your partner guesses a different opposite or gives up, you get one point - but only

if they agree that the word that you were thinking of really is the opposite of the first word

you said. The person with most points when your teacher stops the game is the winner.

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2016

More opposites ideas

his – her/ hers

you – I/ me

spring – autumn/ fall

big brother/ older brother – little brother/ younger brother

like – don’t like/ hate

in the morning – in the afternoon/ in the evening

have a bath – don’t have a bath/ have a shower

there is – there are/ there isn’t

school – work/ home

father/ dad/ papa/ daddy – mother/ mum/ mama/ mummy

old – young/ new

slow – quick/ fast

quiet – loud/ noisy

far – near/ close

on – off/ under

hello – goodbye/ see you

Written by Alex Case for UsingEnglish.com © 2016