Debate and Discussion Synonyms Wordsearches | ESL Vocabulary Puzzle Activities for Debate Skills

Strengthen your students’ debate vocabulary with two differentiated ESL wordsearch puzzles. Each activity focuses on essential terms for discussions and persuasion, helping learners expand their vocabulary while building connections between words and synonyms.

The standard wordsearch is designed for lower-level learners, who locate debate-related words in the grid and then match each one with its synonym (e.g. Opinion → Viewpoint). The advanced challenge raises the difficulty by hiding both the target words and their synonyms in the grid, requiring learners to find and pair them independently. Answer sheets are included for both versions, making the activities easy to use in class, as homework, or for independent study. These puzzles build confidence with key debate language, support critical thinking, and prepare students for more effective participation in discussions.

This resource is also part of our Debates & Discussions | EFL Resource Pack, which is available to download here.

Perfect For:

• ESL teachers seeking vocabulary puzzles to reinforce debate and persuasion language
• TEFL and TESOL classrooms practising academic synonyms in a structured activity
• EAL learners who benefit from visual, puzzle-based approaches to vocabulary building

Please Note: Once you have completed your purchase, you will receive a PDF to download and print. This is a digital download. No physical product will be shipped.