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Sixty seconds

Compound word game

One half of a compound word appears. Type a word that goes before or after it. How many can you make before time runs out?
Compound wordsScore 0 · Best 0

You get one half of a compound word. Type a word that goes before or after it to make one word: SUN → FLOWER (sunflower) or BATH → TUB. As many as you can in 60 seconds. Stuck? Pass.

How to play

You see a word such as RAIN. Type BOW and you've made rainbow. Type DROP and that's raindrop. The word can also go in front: given BALL, type FOOT for football. Each right answer scores a point and brings a new prompt. Pass whenever you're stuck. The game shows you a couple of answers you could have used.

Compound word examples

WordGoes with
sunflower, shine, glasses, set, burn
football, print, step, note, path
rainbow, coat, drop, fall, storm
bookcase, mark, shelf, worm, store
waterfall, melon, proof, mark, slide
firework, place, man, fly, wood

Compound words are also the building blocks of our main word chain game, where every word must join both the one above and the one below it.

FAQ

Questions people ask

What is a compound word?

Two words joined to make a new one with its own meaning: sun + flower = sunflower, foot + ball = football. Some compounds are written as one word, some with a hyphen (check-in) and some as two words (ice cream).

Which compounds does the game accept?

Closed compound words, the kind written as one word. We check your answer against our list of compounds first, then against a full English dictionary, so less common ones like 'sunbaked' still count.

Can the word go before or after?

Either. If the prompt is BALL, you can type FOOT for football or ROOM for ballroom.

Is this good for teaching compound words?

Yes. The 60-second rounds work well as a warm-up, and the word chain generator can print a worksheet of compound chains with an answer key.

Keep playing

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