Opposites Hangman- Spelling and Guessing Game

Opposites hangman spelling and guessing game

Warmer: Opposites volleyball

One person is the server. They should shout out a word which has an opposite, e.g. “Morning” (because the opposite is afternoon) 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 that has no opposite (e.g. “Table”), or can’t think of an opposite, the other person scores a point. If the server loses a point, the other person serves next. The game can be played by bouncing a balloon, catching a ball, pretending that you have a 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 someone asks you 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

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.

 

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