Spelling Bee
Find words in today's 7-letter flower. Every word must use the centre letter. Pangrams score +7.
- Main skill: Spelling
- Level: CEFR A2 to B2
- Age: Teens & adults
- Typical round: About 8 minutes
For teachers Level, timing and a classroom note
What it practises: building longer words around one fixed centre letter
- word building
- active recall
- Level
- CEFR A2 to B2
- Age band
- Teens & adults
- One round
- About 8 minutes
- Works best
- Solo
Run it as a five-minute open task; the end panel lists the words found with definitions plus the longest words missed, which makes a ready-made board summary.
✓ Teaches after the answer: this game shows an explanation, definition or worked answer, not just a score.
Follow-up practice: Anagram, Daily Word Quest.
How to play
- Tap the petals to spell a word — or type on your keyboard.
- Every word must use the centre letter.
- Words are at least four letters long.
- Find a word that uses all seven letters for a 7-point bonus.
About Spelling Bee
Spelling Bee is a free daily English word flower game built for ESL learners who want to push their active vocabulary. Each day shows a flower of seven unique letters. Your job is to find as many valid English words of four or more letters as you can — and every word you build must include the centre petal. Words that use all seven letters at least once are pangrams and earn a juicy 7-point bonus.
As you find more words you climb a personal rank ladder — Beginner, Novice, Apprentice, Scholar, Wordsmith, Master — so each day is a small challenge to beat your own previous score. Nothing is published and there is no scoreboard of other players; the ladder exists only inside your round. The pool of valid answers is drawn from the 7ESL lexicon, filtered to fair difficulty for ESL learners — no proper nouns, no obscure scientific terms, no archaic English.
When you finish, the reveal turns the round into a lesson. It lists every word you found with a short plain-English definition, then shows the highest-scoring words on today's board that you missed, longest first, each with its own definition — so the words you did not think of are the ones you actually learn. Spelling Bee suits B1 to C1 learners building a richer active word stock, anyone who liked the NYT version and wants ESL-friendly difficulty, IELTS and Cambridge candidates expanding lexical range, and teachers running a daily warm-up. Free to play, no sign-up required.
Why play Spelling Bee?
- ✓ Pushes active vocabulary recall — much harder than passive recognition.
- ✓ Centre-letter rule forces creative word construction, not just spelling memory.
- ✓ Pangrams (all 7 letters) give a real "aha" moment and a 7-point bonus.
- ✓ The end reveal names the words you missed, with definitions — that is where the learning is.
Play next
More Word Games
- Connections
- Hangman
- Rhyme Match
- Word Search
- Word Ladder
- Word Climb
- Theme Hunt
- Mini Crossword
- Word Waffle
- Square Letters
- Quad Word Quest
- Collocation Connect
- Word Twist
- Word Chain
- Boggle
- Word Bingo
- Word Association
Frequently asked questions
How do I play Spelling Bee?
Seven letters sit in a flower — one in the centre, six around it. Tap petals or type on your keyboard to build a word. Every word must be at least four letters long and must include the centre letter. Press Enter to submit. Valid words add to your score, and your rank climbs through Beginner, Novice, Apprentice, Scholar, Wordsmith and Master as the score grows.
What is a pangram?
A pangram is a word that uses all seven letters of the flower at least once. Every Spelling Bee puzzle has at least one pangram hidden in it. Finding a pangram is worth a big 7-point bonus on top of its length score, so spotting one usually flips your rank up several levels. Pangrams are the most satisfying find in the game.
What dictionary do you use?
The valid word list is the 7ESL lexicon, filtered to fair ESL difficulty. Proper nouns, obscure scientific terms, archaic words and slurs are excluded. After the round the reveal shows the words you found with a short definition each, then a list of the best words on the board you missed — up to two dozen, longest first — also with definitions, so you can see exactly what slipped past you.
How is the rank ladder calculated?
Each puzzle has a hidden total possible score based on every valid word in the flower. Your rank is the percentage of that total you reach, climbing through Beginner, Novice, Apprentice, Scholar and Wordsmith to Master at seventy per cent. You do not have to find every word to reach Master, and the puzzle keeps accepting words even after you top the ladder. The rank is yours alone — it is not posted anywhere.
Is Spelling Bee good for ESL vocabulary?
Yes, it is one of the strongest active-vocabulary games on the site. Unlike multiple-choice, you have to actively produce words from memory — far harder and more useful for real English use. The reveal at the end teaches you the words you did not find, each with a definition, so every round directly expands your word stock.