Mind Games

Word Play

Maya Shah 165 Views

Test your English language ability with these word games.

Letters

Which word retains the same pronunciation when you take away four of its five letters?

Answer
Queue

Hidden Fruit

Find the fruit hidden in every statement. The letters are found next to each other in the correct order. [Example: Did you see a man go by? (mango)]

  1. ​He found his home lonely after his dog’s death.
  2. One dare not rob an anaconda of its prey.
  3. The crook made his escape armed with a gem.
  4. ​She told her uncle money was what she needed more.
  5. If I go out now, I shall miss my cousin.
  6. ​Either courage or anger made him move swiftly.
  7. The beggar held out his cap pleading for money.
Answer
1. melon, 2. banana, 3. pear, 4. lemon, 5.fig, 6. orange, 7. apple.

Ants in my pants!

Using the clues, find the words ending in ANT.

  1. Deadly tumour
  2. Absent from school
  3. Cop needs this to arrest you
  4. New-born
  5. Where Miss Universe is chosen
  6. Way too expensive
  7. Never changing
  8. Large gray mammal
  9. Far away
  10. Happening immediately
Answer
1. Malignant, 2. Truant, 3. Warrant, 4. Infant, 5. Pageant, 6. Exorbitant, 7. Constant, 8. Elephant, 9. Distant, 10. Instant.

Moving letters

Remove one letter from the first word given and place it into the second word to form two new words. You must not change the order of the letters in the words. You may not use plurals. What letter needs to move?
e.g. LEARN – FINE = lean – finer

1. WAIVE – NOSE
2. HONEY – EAST
3. OLIVE – CAST
4. WAIST – HOOT
5. TRUST – DEER

Odd one out

Which word is the odd one out — stun, ton, mood, letter, evil, bad, snap, straw?

Answer
Letter. If you read them all backwards, letter is the only one that does not make another word.

Not so easy

How quickly can you find out what is so unusual about this paragraph? It looks so ordinary that you would think that nothing was wrong with it at all and, in fact, nothing is. But it is unusual. Why? If you study it and think about it you may find out, but I am not going to assist you in any way. You must do it without coaching. No doubt, if you work at it for long, it will dawn on you. Who knows? Go to work and try your skill.

Answer
Although the letter ‘e’ is the most used letter in the English alphabet, here is a paragraph without a single ‘e’.

Middles

Can you find the three-letter words which when inserted into the middle sections form another word when tacked onto the first word and a further word when placed in front of the second word?

  1. Grand _______ Off
  2. Quarter _______ Mind
  3. Hair _______ Stroke
  4. Bread _______ Cake
  5. Water _______ Read
Answer
1. GRAND-STAND-OFF, 2. QUARTER-MASTER-MIND, 3. HAIR-BRUSH-STROKE, 4. BREAD-FRUIT-CAKE, 5. WATER-PROOF-READ

Twinkle, twinkle!

How many four-letter words can you find in the word ‘twinkle’?

Answer
twin, kiln, wink, link, tine, newt, went, wine, kilt, wilt, welt, tile, kite, wile, lint, lent, like, kine, lien, line, knit

Speaking volumes

Juggle the letters around to form interesting new words that speak volumes.

  1. the morse code
  2. heavy rain
  3. the railroad train
  4. snooze alarms
  5. a gentleman
  6. a decimal point
  7. the earthquakes
Answer
1. Here come dots, 2. Hire a navy, 3. Hi! I rattle and roar, 4. Alas! No more z’s, 5. Elegant man, 6. I’m a dot in place, 7. That queer shake

Trickle down

Starting at the top, change only one letter of each succeeding word to arrive at the word at the bottom.

TIMER
_____
_____
_____
_____
DUNKS

Answer
TIMER, TIMES, DIMES, DINES, DUNES, DUNKS