Word Search Maker

Word Search Maker turns your own list of words into a ready-to-print puzzle. Type a spelling list, a topic’s vocabulary, the names of everyone at a party or the clues for a team quiz, and the grid builds itself as you type. Each word is hidden once in a straight line and the empty squares are filled with letters, so there is exactly one place to find it.

It is made for teachers, parents, tutors and anyone running a quiz night. Choose Kids for big, easy puzzles that only run across and down, Normal for diagonals as well, or Hard for words that can run backwards with filler letters taken from your own words, which makes false starts much more common. Every puzzle has a code, so you can make the same one again, and New puzzle shuffles it in a click.

You can print it as a PDF with an answer key on the second page, save it as a picture, or solve it on screen by dragging across a word with a mouse or finger. Your list never leaves your device: the puzzle is built and the PDF is drawn inside your browser, with no sign-up, no limits and no watermark.

1. Type a title and your words in “Your words”, one per line or separated by commas (up to 60).
2. Pick a difficulty: Kids, Normal or Hard. Fine-tune which ways words can run under “Words can run”.
3. Leave the grid size on “Fit my words”, or choose your own rows and columns.
4. Press New puzzle until you like the layout. Try it on screen: drag from the first letter of a word to the last.
5. Choose your paper size, then press Download PDF (with an answer key page) or save a PNG.

• Up to 60 words of 2 to 30 letters, on grids from 5 × 5 to 30 × 30
• Directions you control: across, down, both diagonals and backwards
• Kids, Normal and Hard presets, each with a sensible grid size and filler
• Filler letters at random, or only from your words’ letters for a tougher puzzle
• Checks that no word accidentally appears twice in the filler
• Clear warning naming any word that did not fit, with what to change
• Playable on screen with mouse, touch (drag or tap twice) or keyboard
• Printable PDF on A4 or US Letter with optional answer key and name and date lines
• PNG of the puzzle or the answer key, in capitals or lower case
• Works with accented letters and other alphabets such as Greek and Cyrillic

• For young children, keep words to eight letters or fewer and stick to Kids: across and down only, in capitals.
• Words inside other words (like “ear” in “heart”) are fair game, but they confuse younger solvers, so leave one of them out.
• If a word will not fit, switch the grid back to “Fit my words” or allow diagonals; long words need room in at least one direction.
• Hide the word list for a harder challenge: give clues out loud and let the class find the answers.
• Note the puzzle number shown under the title. Type it back into that box with the same words and settings and you get the identical grid again.