How to make a word search
- Add your words. Type or paste them one per line (commas work too), or start from one of the ready-made lists and edit it. A word can be a short phrase: Candy cane is hidden as CANDYCANE and printed in the list as you typed it.
- Pick a difficulty. It sets the directions words can run, and you can change them yourself afterwards with the Across, Down, Diagonal and Backwards boxes.
- Choose the grid and the look. Leave Grid size on Auto to get the smallest square that holds every word, or pick one from 8 × 8 to 25 × 25. Choose UPPERCASE or lowercase letters and a font.
- Check the preview, which shows the exact pages of the PDF, answer key included. Not happy with the layout? New puzzle hides the same words in a fresh grid.
- Download the PDF and print it. Under Printing you can switch between US Letter and A4, put 2 or 4 puzzles on a page, and make up to 30 different versions.
What the difficulty levels do
| Level | Words run | Filler letters |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | Across and down | Random letters, words rarely cross |
| Medium | Across, down and diagonally | Random letters, some words cross |
| Hard | All eight directions, backwards too | Half from the letters of your words, words cross often |
Hard puzzles feel hard for two reasons. Backwards and upward words break the habit of reading left to right, and filler built from your own words leaves partial matches everywhere: a stray SNO next to SNOW, or an extra P and K near PUMPKIN. For young children, Easy with a small grid and short words works best; the grid size matters more than the word count.
Every word is placed, and only once
The maker places the longest words first, tries many layouts and keeps the one that fits the most words. Two words may share a letter only where they cross, never along the same line, so CAT always gets a place of its own instead of sharing the first letters of CATS. When the grid is filled, it searches all eight directions for each of your words and swaps any filler letter that spells one by accident. A puzzle never has a second, accidental SUN that a solver could circle instead of the real one. (A word inside a longer listed word, like CAT in CATS, is the one copy no layout can avoid.) The filler is also checked against a short list of rude English words and changed wherever its letters would spell one, so a puzzle for children stays clean.
If a word can't go in, because it is longer than the grid or the grid is too full, the page names it under the preview instead of quietly leaving it out. Make the grid bigger, allow more directions or remove a few words, and it will fit. Words that can't be used at all, such as a single letter, a duplicate or a word with digits, are named there too.
Answer keys and versions
The answer key pages come after the puzzles. Each hidden word is marked with a colored highlighter stroke and the filler letters are grayed out, so the words stand out even on a black-and-white printer. Every puzzle prints a short code in its bottom corner, such as K7PQ2D-2, and its answer key carries the same code.
Versions are handy in a classroom: the same spelling list in four different grids means neighbors can't copy each other's answers. At 2 or 4 puzzles per page the sheet has dashed cut lines; with a single version, the page is filled with copies of the same puzzle, so one printed sheet makes two or four handouts.
Tips for a good puzzle
- Mind the longest word. The grid can't be smaller than your longest word, so one 14-letter word forces at least a 14 × 14 grid.
- Large print: choose Bold sans, a grid of 12 × 12 or less and one puzzle per page. Fewer cells means bigger letters on the same paper.
- Early readers: School print draws a and g the way children learn to write them. Lowercase letters match the words they read in books.
- Hide the theme: leave the title empty for a mystery puzzle, and let the solvers work out what the words have in common.
Printing and sharing
Print at 100% or Actual size for the cleanest letters, though Fit to page works too: the layout keeps a half-inch margin on every side. Share result copies a link to your puzzle. The link holds the title, the words and the settings after the # sign, so whoever opens it sees the same grid and can print it. Nothing is uploaded: the puzzle and the PDF are made in your browser.
More printables for the same crowd: make bingo cards from the same word list for a party game, name tracing worksheets for children who are just learning their letters, or play a round of Sudoku when the words are all found.