ESL Phrasal Verbs Game: Interactive Vocabulary and Usage Activity
Master one of the most challenging areas of English with our Phrasal Verbs game. This interactive activity is designed for ESL students to practice 48 common phrasal verbs through visual context. By matching verbs to images and building sentences, learners develop a natural understanding of how these word pairs function in everyday English.
Assign Homework
You can assign this page as a task and monitor your students' progress through our dedicated portal.
You can share this page by using the link below.
How to Play: Connect Verbs and Meanings
Our online phrasal verbs activity uses a three-part system to strengthen the association between the verb and its visual meaning:
- Step 1: Verb Identification – Look at the image and choose the correct phrasal verb. The game repeats any items you miss to ensure mastery.
- Step 2: Image Matching – You are shown a phrasal verb in text form and must select the image that correctly illustrates its meaning.
- Step 3: Sentence Construction – Look at a large image and click on the words in the correct order to build a complete sentence using the target phrasal verb.
Phrasal Verbs Vocabulary by Round
The game is divided into 6 rounds, featuring verbs chosen for their visual clarity. Here is the full list of verbs practiced in each round:
- Fall down
- Wake up
- Take off
- Plug in
- Try on
- Run out
- Do up
- Sit down
- Put out
- Take out
- Break up
- Turn over
- Hand in
- Lie down
- Hold on
- Hang out
- Break down
- Hand out
- Get on
- Fill out
- Tear up
- Turn into
- Throw away
- Turn down
- Hang up
- Pick up
- Put away
- Turn on
- Look after
- Fill up
- Put on
- Read out
- Hold out
- Think about
- Take off
- Stand up
- Turn off
- Get up
- Take care
- Tell off
- Get on
- Work out
- Fall over
- Put up
- Look at
- Dress up
- Take out
- Cut down
Why Teachers Choose This Phrasal Verbs Resource
Teachers recommend this ESL phrasal verbs activity because it uses a behaviorist approach to learning—repeatedly pairing visual context with the target language to strengthen memory. Since phrasal verbs like "throw up" or "take on" are often difficult to understand from their component parts, the visual cues in this game provide the essential context needed for comprehension. It is a fantastic resource for students preparing for Cambridge B1 Preliminary (PET) and B2 First (FCE) exams.
Classroom Tips
After playing, ask students to choose three phrasal verbs from the game and write a short story or dialogue using them. For more verb practice, try our Grammar Bubbles game, or use the Past Tense activity to practice these verbs in different time frames.
Which phrasal verb do your students find the most confusing? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments
Meanings of the phrasal verbs should also be asked in one part of the game so that it makes sense to the student immediately
- Rachna Goyal
It is very good!
- Théo
is a fun game
- Mathias Alcivar
Cool!
- Anon
Make america great again
- Trump