English Sports & Exercise Vocabulary

Level: A2. Talking about sport comes up fast — in small talk, at the gym, watching a game. This page gives you the English words for sports and exercise, grouped by meaning so related words stick together, each with a plain definition and a short example you can copy.

By the end of this page you can…

…name common sports, describe a match (play, win, lose, score), use the main action verbs (run, throw, catch, kick), and talk about keeping fit (train, exercise, gym) in simple sentences.

How this list was chosen

Every word here comes from the English frequency list (hermitdave/FrequencyWords), which ranks words by how often they appear in a large collection of everyday subtitles. From that list we kept the words you really need to talk about sport and exercise, and grouped them by meaning rather than by rank. The Rank column is the word’s real position in the frequency list — a lower number means more common.

Playing a game

Rank	Word	Meaning	Example
334	play	take part in a sport or game	We play football on Sundays.
456	game	a match or contest	The game starts at three.
516	team	a group that plays together	She is in the school team.
607	win	finish first	Our team hopes to win today.
557	lose	not win	It is sad to lose the final.
664	beat	win against someone	We beat them two to one.
1143	match	an organised game between sides	The tennis match lasted hours.
2404	goal	a point scored by putting the ball in the net	He scored the winning goal.
2408	score	the number of points; to get a point	What is the score now?
1741	fan	someone who supports a team	Thousands of fans filled the ground.

People and places

Rank	Word	Meaning	Example
2006	player	a person who plays a sport	She is the best player on the team.
1525	coach	a person who trains a team	The coach picked the squad.
1048	field	the ground where a sport is played	The players ran onto the field.
752	court	the marked area for tennis or basketball	They booked a tennis court.
3030	champion	the overall winner	She is the national champion.
2952	league	a group of teams that play each other	Our team is top of the league.
5352	tournament	a series of matches to find a winner	He reached the tournament final.
6413	stadium	a large building where people watch sport	The stadium holds fifty thousand.

Actions in sport

Rank	Word	Meaning	Example
322	run	move fast on foot	I run three kilometres a day.
1116	jump	push yourself off the ground	He jumped over the bar.
699	throw	send something through the air with your arm	Throw the ball to me.
636	catch	take hold of something moving	She caught the ball easily.
1237	kick	hit with your foot	Kick the ball into the goal.
741	pass	give the ball to a teammate	He passed it to the striker.
1532	serve	start play in tennis or volleyball	It is your turn to serve.
768	ride	sit on and control a bike or horse	We ride our bikes to the park.
2225	swim	move through water	I swim every morning.
1170	race	a contest of speed	She won the hundred-metre race.

Exercise and fitness

Rank	Word	Meaning	Example
787	train	practise to get better or fitter	The team trains twice a week.
1476	practice	time spent improving a skill	Practice makes you faster.
1184	fit	healthy and strong	Running keeps me fit.
2992	gym	a place with exercise machines	I go to the gym after work.
3083	exercise	activity to keep the body healthy	Daily exercise is good for you.
1509	strength	how strong you are	Weights build strength.
3912	muscle	body tissue that moves your bones	My muscles ache after the run.
3597	stretch	reach out your body to stay flexible	Stretch before you run.
1328	warm	raise your body heat before sport (warm up)	Always warm up first.

Some common sports

Rank	Word	Meaning	Example
1844	football	a team game played with the feet and a ball	Football is played all over the world.
4272	tennis	a racket game over a net	We play tennis at the weekend.
3988	basketball	a team game throwing a ball into a high net	He is tall, so he plays basketball.
3011	golf	a game of hitting a small ball into holes	My uncle plays golf on Fridays.
5258	boxing	a sport of fighting with gloves	Boxing needs speed and strength.
6439	yoga	gentle exercise for the body and mind	I do yoga to relax.

Example sentences

Play each line, then say it aloud. These use the most common sport and exercise words in natural, everyday patterns.

We play football every Sunday morning.

'Play' is used for ball and team sports.
Our team won the game two to one.

You win a game; the score is 'two to one'.
They lost the final, but they played well.

lose/lost is the opposite of win.
In the last minute he scored the winning goal.

score a goal; 'winning' describes the goal that wins.
She is the best player on the team.

'on the team' is the normal preposition.
The coach told us to pass the ball more.

A coach trains and instructs the team.
Throw me the ball and I will catch it.

throw and catch are a natural pair.
Kick it hard into the corner of the goal.

You kick a ball with your foot.
It is your turn to serve now.

In tennis you serve to start the point.
I run five kilometres before breakfast.

'run' for going fast on foot.
We go swimming at the pool on Fridays.

'go' + -ing for solo activities: go swimming.
He trains twice a week to stay fit.

train = practise to improve; fit = healthy and strong.
I go to the gym to build strength.

'go to the gym' is fixed; strength is a noun.
Always stretch and warm up before you exercise.

warm up and stretch to avoid injury.
My muscles ache the day after a long run.

muscle(s) is the body tissue that moves you.
She is the national tennis champion this year.

champion = the overall winner.
The stadium was full of cheering fans.

fans support a team; a stadium holds the crowd.
Our team is top of the league after ten games.

a league is a set of teams playing each other.

Recap cheat-sheet

A few patterns to remember before the quiz.

Cheat sheet: play, go or do a sport; win a game but beat a team

Quick recap before the quiz.

Point	Example
play + ball/team sport	play football, play tennis
go + -ing (solo)	go swimming, go running
do + exercise/martial art	do yoga, do judo
win a game, beat a team	We won the game; we beat them

Practice

Sports vocabulary practice

Try each one, then press Check. No sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere — it all runs in your browser.

1 Match each word to its meaning.

coach Match for coach
court Match for court
league Match for league
fan Match for fan

Show answer

coach → a person who trains a team
court → the marked area for tennis
league → a group of teams that play each other
fan → someone who supports a team

Linking a word to its meaning helps you recall it faster.

2 Which verb goes with football? do football go football play football make football

Show answer

play football — Use 'play' for ball and team sports: play football.

3 Choose the correct sentence. We won them three to one. We beat the game. We beat them three to one. We lost them three to one.

Show answer

We beat them three to one. — You beat a team or person; you win a game.

4 Complete: I ____ swimming at the pool on Fridays.

Hint: solo activity + -ing form

Show answer

go — Use 'go' + -ing for solo activities: go swimming.

5 Complete with the past of 'win': Our team ____ the final.

Hint: win is irregular

Show answer

won — The past of 'win' is 'won'.

6 Put the words in order.

Show answer

warm up before the game — warm up before the game: warm up is a phrasal verb.

Quiz

Next set: English Education & School Vocabulary
Previous set: English Emotions & Feelings Vocabulary
Related: English Body & Health Vocabulary, English Verbs of Motion
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English Sports & Exercise Vocabulary

By the end of this page you can…

How this list was chosen

Playing a game

People and places

Actions in sport

Exercise and fitness

Some common sports

Example sentences

Recap cheat-sheet

Practice

Sports vocabulary practice

Quiz

Sports vocabulary quiz

Next

All English vocabulary topics

Vocabulary