free tool, no sign-up
Word Search Generator
Create custom word search puzzles for classroom activities, homework, or fun. Enter your own words, customize the grid size, and download or print your worksheet.
Enter words separated by commas or one per line (or mix both)
Add words and click "Generate Puzzle"
to create your word search
The Word Search Generator creates custom word search puzzles using your own vocabulary words. Teachers love it for creating engaging worksheets that reinforce spelling and vocabulary. Enter your words, choose your grid size and difficulty level, and instantly generate a printable puzzle. Words can be placed horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. Each puzzle includes an answer key for easy grading. Perfect for classroom activities, homework assignments, party games, or educational fun at home.
Type your words, press generate, print the sheet
This word search generator builds the puzzle from whatever words you give it. Paste them separated by commas, put one per line, or mix the two — the box accepts both. Give the sheet a title at the top, set the grid size, and press Generate Puzzle. The whole thing runs in your browser, so there is no sign-up, no email, and no waiting on a server.
Anything that is not a letter gets stripped out as you type, so hyphens, apostrophes and stray numbers will not end up in the grid. A word longer than the grid is skipped rather than silently cut in half, which is the usual reason a long word goes missing. The counter next to the Words label shows how many will actually be used.
Press Regenerate Puzzle as many times as you like. Placement is random each time, so the same word list gives you a completely different grid — handy when two children at the same table would otherwise copy each other, or when you want a second attempt at the same spelling list next week.
Grid size, letter case and diagonals
Rows and columns are set separately, each from 10 up to 20. A 10x10 grid with six or eight short words is about right for a five or six year old; 12x12 is the default and suits most primary classes; 20x20 will hold twenty-odd words and keeps an older child busy for a good twenty minutes. Fewer words in a big grid means more filler letters and a harder hunt, so difficulty is really a matter of how densely you pack it.
Letter case is a dropdown: UPPERCASE or lowercase, applied to both the grid and the word list underneath. Uppercase is easier for early readers, who are often still matching letter shapes rather than reading. Lowercase is worth using once children are reading fluently, because it matches the text they meet everywhere else.
Words run left to right, top to bottom, and on both diagonals. Untick Include diagonal words and you are left with straight across and straight down only, which makes a much gentler puzzle for infants. Nothing is ever printed backwards, so a child who has found the first letter always reads forwards from there.
Answer keys that show every word in its own colour
Switch to the Answer Key tab and each hidden word lights up in a different colour, with the matching colour behind its entry in the word list below the grid. There are twenty colours in rotation, so on a typical sheet no two words look alike. It is quicker to mark than a key with lines drawn on it, especially when you are checking thirty sheets at the end of a lesson.
The answer key prints as its own page. Print the worksheet first, switch tabs, then print again — you get a clean puzzle for the children and a coloured key for yourself. If the colours come out white, the printer dialog has background graphics switched off; turn that option on and print again.
If a word cannot be fitted after a hundred tries, a note appears listing it by name rather than quietly dropping it. That usually means the grid is too small or too crowded. Add a couple of rows, or take a word out, and regenerate.
Five themes, printing, and saving as a PDF or image
Classic, Ocean, Forest, Sunset and Lavender change the border and the title colour of the sheet. Classic is plain black and costs nothing extra to print; the other four are worth it for a display board or a party sheet.
Print Worksheet opens a clean print page with no site navigation on it — just the title, the grid, the word list, and a small line noting it was made at atc21s.org. Cells are sized from the grid you chose, so a 20x20 puzzle shrinks to fit the page rather than spilling onto a second sheet. To get a word search PDF instead of paper, choose Save as PDF as the printer destination; it works the same way on Windows, Mac, iPad and Android.
Download Image saves the sheet as a PNG at double resolution. That is the one to use when the puzzle is going into a newsletter, a worksheet pack, a slide, or a message to parents, since a PNG drops straight into a document without anyone needing to print anything.
Ways teachers and parents actually use it
The most common use is the week's spelling list. Children who have written a word five times often still cannot recognise it out of context, and hunting for it in a field of letters is a different kind of practice. It also works well with topic vocabulary — the water cycle, Tudor monarchs, the parts of a plant — as a five-minute settler at the start of a lesson.
A name word search is the classic first-week activity: paste in the class list and children hunt for their own name and their friends'. Names are the words they are most motivated to find, and it gets a new class learning each other quickly. It doubles as a birthday or party game if you swap in guests' names.
Beyond the classroom, the same puzzle makes a quiet-time activity for a long car journey, a table filler at a party, or a large-print sheet for a grandparent — set a 20x20 grid with ten words and the letters print big enough to read comfortably.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this word search maker free?
Yes, completely. There is no account to create, no download, and no limit on how many puzzles you make or print.
How do I make my own word search with my own words?
Type or paste your words into the Words box, separated by commas or one per line, set the rows and columns, then press Generate Puzzle. Use the Add sample words link if you just want to see how it looks first.
Can I get a word search PDF?
Yes. Press Print Worksheet, then pick Save as PDF as the destination in your printer dialog instead of a printer. You will get a single-page PDF of the puzzle.
Does it come with an answer key?
It does. Switch to the Answer Key tab and every word is highlighted in its own colour, and you can print or download that version separately from the puzzle.
How many words can I put in one puzzle?
There is no fixed limit, but the grid is. A 12x12 comfortably fits ten to twelve short words; a 20x20 will take twenty or more. Any word that will not fit is listed in a note so you can enlarge the grid or remove it.
Are the words hidden backwards?
No. Words read left to right, top to bottom, or diagonally downwards and upwards, but never in reverse, which keeps the puzzle fair for younger children.
Can I make an easier word search for young children?
Yes. Untick Include diagonal words, drop the grid to 10x10, use UPPERCASE and keep to six or eight short words. That gives a puzzle most five and six year olds can finish without help.
Why do two puzzles from the same word list look different?
Placement is random every time you generate, so each press of Regenerate Puzzle produces a new grid from the same words. That is useful for making several versions of one worksheet.