Idiom Match: the idiom matching game
A pairs or small-group game. Students match each idiom with its meaning, and small numbers in the card corners let them check their own answers while you walk around the room. Ready to print in about a minute, free, no account needed.
Make your free Idiom Match kit →
How to play
Goal: Match every idiom with its meaning. The first pair or group to finish wins.
- Cut out the cards and shuffle the French cards and the English cards together (or keep two piles).
- Students pair each French idiom with its English meaning.
- Stuck? Each pair shares a small number in the corner — students can check themselves.
Two levels
- Easy: students match each idiom with its English meaning.
- Hard: they match it with the English idiom that says the same thing.
Ideas for your class
- Print the French and English cards on different colored paper.
- Pairs game: lay all cards face down; turn two at a time and keep matching pairs.
- Find your partner: give each student one card and have them walk around to find their match.
What you get
To print: Numbered idiom cards and meaning cards to cut out, a teacher page with the answers, and up to 40 copies so every group gets a set. A4 or US Letter, in color or ink-saving black and white.
On a projector: play from one screen, or share it on a video call.
Online: students join from their own phones or laptops with a nickname, and you follow their progress live.
Example idioms
Every card shows the idiom, a word-for-word translation and the real meaning. A few French ones:
| French idiom | Literally | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Les carottes sont cuites | “The carrots are cooked” | It's too late, nothing can be done. |
| Poser un lapin | “To put down a rabbit” | To stand someone up on a date. |
| Avoir le cafard | “To have the cockroach” | To feel depressed or down. |
| Tomber dans les pommes | “To fall in the apples” | To faint; to pass out. |
For ESL classes, English idioms work the same way: spill the beans (to reveal a secret), under the weather (unwell; ill).
Which languages?
48 in all. There are enough idioms for every game in English (1,600+, great for ESL), French (900), Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Polish and Japanese, plus smaller sets in 37 more. You pick the language, a theme, or the exact idioms you want.
Questions
- Is it free?
- Yes, all of it. No account needed; an optional email sign-in keeps your sets on every device.
- Will a rude idiom end up in my kit?
- Not by chance: idioms tagged crude are never picked at random. You can still choose one by hand if you want it.
- What about student data?
- In online games students type a nickname only. Nothing is saved.
- Printing tips?
- Print at 100% scale with headers and footers turned off.
More idiom games
Idiom Bingo · Idiom guessing game (Guesscards) · All classroom games · Tell us how it went