Free ESL Worksheets for Adults (48 Great Resources)

English as a second language (ESL) Worksheets can help adults learn a lot of useful information that will help them in their personal and professional lives. 

However, ESL worksheets for young learners rarely cater to capable adults, which is why we have compiled a list of our exclusive ESL worksheets for adults.

If you’ve missed it, we’ve already listed the best ESL worksheets for beginners and the best ESL worksheets for advanced learners in our other posts. Without further ado, let’s dive into some recommendations for adult learners.

1. ISL Collective

ISL Collective has a ton of free resources, yes, even for adults! 

It is a handy site for bulking up your lesson plan with popular worksheets created by teachers. If you find a particular teacher you like, you can take a look at their profile for more great resources. 

You can just find just about anything on ISL Collective. Type it in the search bar.

Please note that you will have to check for errors because these resources were created by regular tutors like ourselves (not a company with a proofreader). I have noticed grammatical mistakes in some resources, even the most popular ones.

Here are some free resources to get you started:

• At the bank (vocab, grammar, and comprehension)
• Let me introduce myself (adult edition)
• Conversation Lesson: Culture Shock
• Telling the Time
• Speed Dating (using prefer and comparatives)

2. Breaking News English

Breaking News English is an excellent resource for adults. 

At Breaking News English, you can sort by level. 0-3 is easy. 4-6 is more challenging.

Once you’ve sorted by level, you can find wacky, unconventional news on every kind of topic. 

They have news lessons on education, business English, environment, people/gossip, lifestyle, health, issues, and world news.

They usually have a news story, new vocabulary (explained), and exercises in each worksheet. They also have podcast versions of the news stories.

When you’ve found a lesson you like, click “Print the Lesson” in the Read section.

The best thing is that all the worksheets are free! They are high quality and could easily suffice for a full 60-minute to 90-minute lesson.

Here are some worksheets for adults for you to sample:

• South Korean Lantern Light Festival
• Scientists Say They Can Reverse the Aging Process
• Japan + A.I. Matchmaking
• Ecocide Could Become an International Crime
• Unhealthy Diet Creates Height Gap in Children

3. ESL Library

If you are looking for high-quality ESL worksheets for adults, you will certainly find them here at ESL Library. While this is not a free resource and involves a monthly or yearly billing subscription, teachers can dig out some free material to sample.

ESL library is a great supplement to your teaching materials. It allows teachers to search by topic and include a quick worksheet to complement a lesson plan.

When checking out their worksheets on a particular topic, teachers can sort the topics into their own folders for later use. They can also check the worksheets’ US, Canadian, or UK versions. Each worksheet comes with a teacher and student PDF version and downloadable audio.

Their lesson categories include discussions and debates, grammar, young learners and adult literacy, everyday English, academic and business English, reading and discovery, holidays and travel, and English storylines.

ESL Library also has digital lessons that can be broadcast in the classroom, flashcards, and other printable content.

• Distracted Driving Int-Adv
• The Second Conditional Int
• Long Lost Friends (Idioms- Int)
• Internet Entrepreneurs (Business- Adv)
• Susan B. Anthony 

You may also be interested in: Excellent ESL Icebreaker Activities

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4. English Club

English Club has lots of useful resources and free worksheets for adult learners. They also have an ESL section dedicated to teachers. 

You just have to know where to look. To find it, click the upper right-hand corner of their website, entitled “Teach.” Here you can conveniently sort by ESL worksheets, lesson plans, talking points, ESL activities, and so forth.

For the purpose of this blog post, we will select “ESL Worksheets.” From here, you can sort the worksheets by topics– conversation worksheets, Find Someone Who worksheets, or video project worksheets.

You can also sort the worksheets by skill– reading, listening, writing, speaking, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.

Here are some samples you might be interested in:

• Countable VS Uncountable
• Time Sorting
• ESL Conversation– Crime
• Useful Homophone List by Level
• Word Stress 1
• Divided Kingdom Listening

5. Learn English Feel Good

Learn English Feel Good is great for adult grammar worksheets, and you will find a host of their worksheets readily available without having to search high and low!

Their downloadable worksheets cover tenses, verbs, articles, prepositions, pronouns, and many others that will keep adult learners busy.

Before handing out these worksheets, revising the grammar topic or providing some kind of introduction would be good, as these worksheets head straight into the exercise without much explanation.

There are also some answers on the second page of each worksheet. Not for handing out to students, of course!

• Article or No Article
• Reported Speech 
• Tag Questions
• Present Continuous or Present Simple?
• The Future Perfect Tense
• The Passive Voice

You may also be interested in: The Best English Teaching Companies in 2022.

6. Teach This

Teach This is another great site for ESL adult teaching materials. This site has an abundance of resources, especially for the exclusive (paying) ESL teacher.

Teach This uncovers ESL worksheets for grammar, parts of speech, functional English, general English, and games.

The entire worksheets library can be downloaded for just a $39 yearly subscription. Or teachers can sign up for a monthly subscription.

Here are some of the free resources you can find on the site. They have some short and long worksheets to complete:

• Money Phrasal Verbs
• The Rose B1
• A New Country
• Agreeing and Disagreeing
• Would You Like to Leave a Message

You may also be interested in: Best Grammar Websites for Students

7. Off2Class

Off2Class is a paid platform that offers a full virtual classroom for teachers and students. 

I talk much more about Off2Class in my Off2Class review and interview with teacher trainer Chris Rush.

The lesson materials are of superb quality and cut the lesson planning time. If, however, you are just looking for free ESL worksheets for adults, they also have some of those to try out too.

Teachers can also avail of free ESL worksheets when they sign up via e-mail.

Here are some worksheets for you to try out with your adult learners:

• The English Alphabet
• Teaching Business English — Advertising
• Teaching Adjectives and Opposites
• 4 Free IELTS Lessons
• Family Routine Reading
• Being Healthy (Questions and Vocabulary)

8. ESL Pals

ESL Pals might be the new kid on the block, but they offer a range of high-quality resources for adults. The worksheets are article and video-based. They add new lessons regularly. If you want to receive some free lessons, sign up to receive their emails.

ESL Pals have general English, business English, grammar, and conversation class lesson plans. You can pay a subscription fee for unlimited access to their curriculum.

Check out some of the free worksheets they have made available:

• Should (A2-B1)
• Netflix: Competition in Business (B2)
• How to Describe People (A2)
• How to Make Better Decisions (B2)
• The Interview Process (C1)
• Family (A1)

9. Pinterest

Pinterest has an abundance of worksheets for teaching English, but it will take a bit of digging to find the right one.

Simply type “ESL worksheets for adults” into the search bar, and you will find various worksheets. Or you can be more specific about what you are looking for, “business English worksheets.” The more detailed, the better.

Pinterest is good at pulling up the most popular resources for teachers to choose from.

Pinterest often links to other websites so you can find even more resources.

Here are some examples of what you can find on Pinterest:

• Emails in English
• Be More Descriptive
• Phone Conversation
• Sample Interview Questions

In Conclusion

Many resources are available on the internet to keep you and your adult learners busy learning English. These are just some of the ESL worksheets for adults I’ve found with a quick Google search.

Still haven’t found what you’re looking for? Check the Best ESL Websites for Teachers and see if there is anything I missed. I’m sure you can find what you’re looking for.

While these worksheets are suitable for adult learners (beginner to advanced), they can also be adapted to younger learners. I hope you’ve found this list helpful.

Like this post? Don’t forget to share so others can find it!

Useful Links

• Online ESL Games to Play
• Best Rolling Carts for Teachers
• Teach English Online Ultimate Guide
• How I Use Manycam for Online Classes
• Pros and Cons of Online Teaching

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Caitriona Maria

Education writer at TPR Teaching | https://www.tprteaching.com

Caitriona Maria is an education writer and founder of TPR Teaching, crafting inspiring pieces that promote the importance of developing new skills. For 7 years, she has been committed to providing students with the best learning opportunities possible, both domestically and abroad. Dedicated to unlocking students' potential, Caitriona has taught English in several countries and continues to explore new cultures through her travels.