Make a word search they’ll want to solve.
Build a puzzle around a story, a season, or the words your learners are exploring. Every printable comes with an answer key.
Your puzzle, your words
⌁ Your title and words stay in this browser. No uploads or saved lists.
Loading the local worksheet font…
Open the PDF to printThese settings have changed. Generate a new puzzle before downloading or printing.
Your example puzzle will appear here.
Popular themes
Load a ready-to-edit list, then generate your own arrangement.
A themed puzzle in four simple steps
1. Pick a little theme
Try garden words such as seed, flower, rain, and leaf. For a space theme, use moon, star, rocket, and planet. Enter a phrase like “ice cream” on one line; the grid will contain ICECREAM.
2. Choose the challenge
Easy uses left-to-right and top-to-bottom words. Medium adds diagonals that run left to right. Hard adds the reverse directions. Choose a larger grid for longer words or a fuller list.
3. Generate and check
The maker finds a place for every accepted word and fills the remaining squares with letters. Browse Puzzle and Answer key before printing. Regenerate creates a fresh arrangement using your current settings.
4. Print and explore
Your download has exactly two pages: the puzzle and its matching answer key. Match Letter or A4 to your printer, use portrait orientation, and print at actual size (100%). Blank Name and Date fields are ready for handwriting.
Word search questions
Can I change a theme’s words?
Yes. Editing the list switches to Custom words and keeps your edits. Selecting Custom words also keeps the current list. Loading another preset replaces the words and title; if you edited the words, you’ll be asked first. Theme changes keep your difficulty, grid size, and paper size. Generate again to update the puzzle.
Why might my browser print page numbers?
The worksheets contain no page numbers. Print worksheets opens the two-page PDF. If you print the web page through your browser instead, browser-added headers and footers are controlled by the print dialog; turn off its Headers and footers option. Worksheet CSS does not control those browser additions.
Will every word in my list be included?
Every accepted unique word is placed. If a word is too long or the full list cannot fit within the bounded search, you’ll get an error asking for a larger grid, fewer words, or shorter words. Words are never silently left out. A fitting arrangement may exist even if a particular attempt cannot find it; regenerating may help.
What happens to duplicates and phrases?
Duplicates are combined without regard to capitalization or spaces, keeping the first readable label. “Ice Cream,” “ice cream,” and “icecream” share one grid entry. Spaces stay in the word list but not in the puzzle.
Why do I need to generate again after editing?
The preview and answer key belong to one generated puzzle. Changing the title, words, difficulty, grid size, or paper size marks that preview as outdated. Download and Print stay disabled until you generate again.
Does the filler check catch every unsuitable word?
No. The maker checks a small list of common offensive English strings in all eight directions when they use filler letters, with a limited number of retries. It cannot catch every word, spelling, language, or interpretation, and it does not filter intentionally entered words. Please review the puzzle before giving it to learners.
Can I save a word list or use this offline?
This version doesn’t save lists or send them to the server. Keep your own list in a document if you want to reuse it. The page needs its local website files and font to load; it does not provide an installed offline mode.
For younger learners, try the five-page Name Activity Pack. You can also read our worksheet printing guide.
Prefer clues to a word list? Try the Crossword Maker.
For number practice, try the Maths Worksheet Generator.