Free Word Search Maker
Type your words, pick a size and a difficulty, and print. You get the puzzle page and a separate answer key, ready for the classroom, a party or a quiet afternoon.
Your puzzle
3 to 15 letters each, up to 40 words. Spaces and punctuation are dropped, so “ice cream” becomes ICECREAM.
Grid as plain text (to copy and paste)
Print gives you two pages: the puzzle, then the answer key, on US Letter or A4. To keep a PDF instead, choose “Save as PDF” in your browser’s print dialog. The same words, size, difficulty and layout number always make the same puzzle, so note the number if you want to make it again.
Runs in your browser. Your words are never uploaded, stored or sent anywhere.
How to make a word search
- Give it a title. It is printed at the top of both pages.
- Type or paste your words, one per line or separated by commas. Spelling lists, names from a family tree, the vocabulary of this week’s topic: anything from 3 to 15 letters works.
- Choose a difficulty. Easy hides words only across and down. Medium adds diagonals. Hard uses all eight directions, including backwards, which is what most adult puzzle books do.
- Leave the grid size on Auto or pick one. Auto sizes the grid to the longest word and how many letters you have in total, and grows it if the words will not all fit.
- Press New layout until you like the look of it, tick Show answers to check it, then Print.
Every puzzle is checked before you see it. Each word on the list appears in the grid exactly once, reading in any of the eight directions, so nobody finds a word twice or circles a copy that is not the answer. The random filler letters are also screened so they do not spell rude words by accident, which matters when the puzzle is going home in a school bag.
Tips for teachers and parents
| Age | Words | Grid | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5–6 | 5–8 short words | 10 × 10 | Easy, lowercase |
| 7–8 | 8–12 | 10 × 10 to 12 × 12 | Easy or Medium |
| 9–11 | 12–18 | 13 × 13 to 15 × 15 | Medium |
| 12 and up | 18–30 | 15 × 15 to 20 × 20 | Hard |
- Fewer words in a bigger grid is harder, not easier: there is more filler to search. For beginners keep the grid small and the words few.
- Lowercase helps early readers, who usually learn lowercase letters first and meet them in books. Older children and adults tend to find uppercase grids easier to scan.
- Use it for spelling practice. Finding a word means holding its exact letter order in mind, which is the point of a spelling list.
- Avoid words hidden inside other words. CAT inside CATERPILLAR would be found twice, so the maker asks you to drop one. It will tell you which.
- Print the answer key separately. Print page 1 only for the class and keep page 2 for yourself, or hand the answers out at the end.
Questions
Is it free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and no limit on how many puzzles you make or print, for home or for a whole class.
Can I print it?
Yes. Press Print and you get the puzzle on one page and the answer key on the next, sized for US Letter or A4. The buttons and the rest of this page are left off the printout.
Can I save it as a PDF?
Yes: press Print and choose “Save as PDF” (or “Microsoft Print to PDF”) as the printer.
Do you store my words?
No. Everything runs in your browser. The words you type are never uploaded, saved or seen by anyone, and closing the page forgets them.
Why was one of my words left out?
Words need 3 to 15 letters, and a word cannot be longer than the grid is wide. A word that sits inside another word on your list (or is another word spelled backwards) would be found twice, so it is left out. The reason for each word appears in red under the word box.
Why does it say my words will not fit?
Too many long words for the grid. Choose a bigger grid, set the size to Auto, remove a few words, or pick a harder difficulty: more directions give the maker more ways to fit them.
Want a personalised puzzle gift?
We make custom word searches and crosswords from your names and memories, professionally laid out and ready to print or frame.
Ask about a custom puzzle →Or try our word search and logic puzzle books, printed paperbacks sold on Amazon.
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