How to make a printable word search
Type your words, pick a size, print. Useful for classrooms, parties and revision.
A word search is one of the few puzzles where the content is entirely yours — spelling words for a class, names for a party, terminology for revision.
Step-by-step
- Enter your words, one per line.
- Choose a grid size. Bigger grids hide words better but take longer.
- Choose directions. Horizontal and vertical only for young children; add diagonals and backwards for older ones.
- Generate and print, with the answer key on its own page.
Choosing words that work
- Four to ten letters. Very short words appear by accident in the filler and cause confusion; very long ones dominate the grid.
- Mind the overlap. Words sharing many letters are harder to place and can create accidental duplicates.
- Ten to twenty words suits a typical grid. Too few looks sparse; too many forces awkward placements.
Difficulty is mostly direction, not size
Adding backwards and diagonal placement raises difficulty far more than enlarging the grid. A 12×12 with all eight directions is considerably harder than a 20×20 with two. For under-sevens, horizontal and vertical only is the right setting — reading backwards is a skill they are still building.
Printing
Laid out for A4 and Letter without adjustment, in black and white. The answer key starts a fresh page so it can be separated before handing the puzzle out.
Frequently asked questions
How many words should I use?
Ten to twenty for a standard grid. The generator will tell you if a word cannot be placed rather than silently dropping it.
Can I use two-word phrases?
Spaces are removed, so a phrase becomes one continuous string in the grid. Keep the total length reasonable or it will be hard to place.
Is the answer key on the same page?
No, it begins on its own page so you can print both and separate them.
Open the word search generator →