Idioms and Fixed Expressions: Worksheets and Lessons
49 worksheets and 9 vocabulary decks · Word power
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Idioms & fixed expressions worksheets
49 printable worksheets with answer keys; the 24 most used, easiest level first.
Idioms & fixed expressions vocabulary
9 word decks with meanings, examples and pronunciation: flip, quiz, print as flashcards or play as a game.
Warm-ups and fillers
Quick Fun Corner activities on the same theme: no preparation.
- Joke · A2What do you call a skeleton who never gets out of bed?
- Joke · B1Why did the ghost get into the lift?
- Ice breaker · B2Choose an idiom from the board that sums you up: a night owl, a couch potato, a social butterfly, a bookworm, an early bird. Explain with a real example. Does your partner agree?
- Filler · B2Say the start of an idiom: “It’s a piece of…”, “Once in a blue…”, “It costs an arm and a…”, “Let the cat out of the…” Students finish it and give a situation where you’d use it.
- Filler · B2A student draws an idiom literally on the board: raining cats and dogs, a couch potato, have butterflies in your stomach. The class guesses it and explains what it really means.
- Filler · B2Give three idioms: once in a blue moon, cost an arm and a leg, the last straw. Pairs tell a 30-second story using all three naturally.
About Idioms & fixed expressions
Idioms are fixed expressions whose meaning cannot be worked out from the individual words: to break the ice, to be on the fence, a piece of cake. Many other fixed expressions are more transparent but still frozen in form, such as by and large or all of a sudden, and learners have to reproduce them exactly.
Idioms are usually taught from B1 upwards, with a stronger focus at B2 and C1–C2, where they appear in reading, listening and exam tasks. Learners tend to change the wording (break the ices), use idioms in the wrong register or overuse dated ones such as raining cats and dogs. Recognition matters more than production at first.
This page offers printable idioms worksheets with answer keys that you can print as PDF or complete online with a class link, together with vocabulary decks.
Teaching tips: Idioms & fixed expressions
- Group idioms by theme or key word (body idioms, weather idioms) so learners can see connections and remember them.
- Watch for altered fixed forms, such as 'a cake piece' or 'break the ices'; stress that most idioms cannot be changed, pluralised or reordered.
- Teach register alongside meaning: many idioms are informal and unsuitable for academic writing.
- Present idioms in short dialogues or texts so learners infer the meaning from context before you explain it.
Questions teachers ask
Which idioms are worth teaching?
Prioritize idioms that are frequent in current spoken and written English, such as on the other hand or keep an eye on, over colorful but rare ones that learners are unlikely to hear.
Should learners use idioms in exam writing?
Only when they are used accurately and suit the register. In B2 First and C1 Advanced tasks, a natural fixed expression can help, but a forced or misused idiom lowers the impression of control.
What is the difference between an idiom and a collocation?
A collocation is a natural word partnership whose meaning is clear (heavy rain), while an idiom's meaning is not predictable from its parts (under the weather).