Simple Hangman game - first Python project
this if statement is a bit silly:

    if user_tries == number_of_tries or user_list == list(secret_word):
        return True
    else:
        return False


It could easily be:

    return user_tries == number_of_tries or user_list == list(secret_word)


since that expression evaluates to True or False, just return it directly
Instead of

secret_word = word_list[random.randint(1, len(word_list))]


you can use the much more readable random.choice:

secret_word = random.choice(word_list)

your user_input routine isn't used at all.  Nuke it or use it.
You use a lot of global state.  This is generally frowned upon because it makes the code less reusable.  You should first off, try to use less global state: put function results into variables and pass them around, instead.  This makes those functions much more reusable.  If you absolute must use global state, still don't: instead make an object that stores that "global" state, and turn the functions that use it into methods on the object.