Kidney Crossword Puzzle for Kids
Free printable educational crossword puzzle. Every clue is a plain-English sentence from the Simple English Wikipedia article on Kidney, with the key word blanked out.
Kidney Crossword
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
| 10H | ||||||||||
| U | ||||||||||
| M | ||||||||||
| 9A | A | |||||||||
| D | N | |||||||||
| 7C | A | U | S | E | S | |||||
| L | ||||||||||
| 2C | A | N | N | O | T | |||||
| E | S | 5D | ||||||||
| 3F | L | U | I | D | 11W | O | R | K | ||
| L | 4B | E | ||||||||
| 12S | Y | 6M | P | T | O | M | S | |||
| E | D | |||||||||
| A | Y | |||||||||
| 1W | R | O | N | G | ||||||
| A | ||||||||||
| 8T | I | M | E | S | ||||||
| E | ||||||||||
| R |
Across
- 1. This includes people that are born with kidneys in the _____ place, or in the _____ shape. (5 letters)
- 2. If they have severe kidney failure, they _____ live unless they have a replacement for their kidneys. (6 letters)
- 3. Then the _____ comes out and takes the wastes with it. (5 letters)
- 7. This is one of the most common _____ of kidney failure in the United States (6 letters)
- 8. This must be done 2–4 _____ every week (usually 3 _____.) It takes 2–4 hours to do this each time. (5 letters)
- 11. The kidneys do not _____ very much at all in severe kidney disease. (4 letters)
- 12. People can have mild kidney failure and have no _____. (8 letters)
Down
- 1. If there is too much _____, the kidney puts more _____ in the urine. (5 letters)
- 2. Doctors have to give people erythropoietin so they make enough red blood _____. (5 letters)
- 4. They make urine so that waste can be removed from the _____. (4 letters)
- 5. As long as it _____ not become worse, people may not even know they have it. (4 letters)
- 6. Severe kidney failure _____ very bad failure. (4 letters)
- 9. It is most often found in _____, and is usually deadly. (6 letters)
- 10. It is the most common because _____ have two kidneys, but only need one kidney to live. (6 letters)
Clues are sentences from the Simple English Wikipedia article “Kidney” (revision 10826984, CC BY-SA 4.0). crosswordprint.com/printable-crosswords/human-and-animal-anatomy/kidney-for-kids/
Kidney Word Search
Name: ____________________ Date: ______________
Words to Find
crosswordprint.com/printable-crosswords/human-and-animal-anatomy/kidney-for-kids/
Pick the word that completes each sentence from the Simple English Wikipedia article.
Is the sentence correct? Some sentences have one word altered.
Click a clue, then click the word it belongs to.
Unscramble each word. The clue is the sentence it was taken from.
How to Solve & Use the Answer Key
This is a fill-in crossword. Each clue is a sentence from the Simple English Wikipedia article on Kidney, with the key term blanked out. The number in parentheses shows the letter count. Solve interactively on screen or check Show answers to view the answer key. To print a clean student worksheet, press Print Puzzle.
Kidney Crossword Answer Key & Definitions
Show Complete Answers & Word Definitions
- 1 Across: WRONG — A wrong (from Old English wrang – 'crooked') is an act that is illegal or immoral. Simple English Wikipedia: Wrongdoing
- 2 Across: CANNOT — The English modal auxiliary verbs are a subset of the English auxiliary verbs used mostly to express modality, properties such as possibility and obligation. Wikipedia: English modal auxiliary verbs
- 3 Across: FLUID — A fluid is a substance that can move easily and change shape such as water (liquids), or air (gases), or plasmas. Simple English Wikipedia: Fluid
- 7 Across: CAUSES
- 8 Across: TIMES — Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Wikipedia: Time (disambiguation)
- 11 Across: WORK
- 12 Across: SYMPTOMS — Symptoms are used in diagnosis. The term is used in medicine, and in other fields such as fault-finding in engineering. Simple English Wikipedia: Symptom
- 1 Down: WATER — Water is a simple chemical compound made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Simple English Wikipedia: Water
- 2 Down: CELLS — In biology, the cell is the basic structure of organisms. Simple English Wikipedia: Cell
- 4 Down: BODY — A body is the physical material of a person or organism. Simple English Wikipedia: Body
- 5 Down: DOES
- 6 Down: MEAN — In mathematics and statistics, the mean is a kind of average. Simple English Wikipedia: Mean
- 9 Down: ADULTS — Adult may mean different things. In law and social norms, an adult is a human who has reached the age of majority. Simple English Wikipedia: Adult
- 10 Down: HUMANS — A human is a member of the species Homo sapiens, which means 'wise man' in Latin. Simple English Wikipedia: Human
Definitions adapted from Simple English Wikipedia and Wikipedia articles (week 2026-W41), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Read about Kidney
The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs located in the abdomen of vertebrates such as humans. They regulate (control) the amount of water and salts in the blood. They make urine so that waste can be removed from the body.
The adjective which is used for kidneys and latin name is is renal. For example, renal failure is when the kidneys do not work properly.
The prefix nephro- is also used in words to mean "kidneys". For example, a nephrologist is a specialist who studies kidneys.
Hormones
The kidney makes hormones. The two most important ones that it makes are erythropoetin and renin.
Erythropoietin is made by the kidneys if there is less oxygen in the kidney. Erythropoietin signals the bone marrow to make more red blood cells. This makes it so more oxygen carried around the body in the blood.
Renin is made by the kidney if there is low blood pressure, low blood volume (hypovolemia), low amounts of salts in the blood. Renin makes the blood vessels smaller and tells the adrenal gland to make aldosterone (which tells the kidneys to save salts). It also makes a person feel thirsty. All of this makes the blood pressure go up.
Stable environment
The kidney's most important work is keeping homeostasis. Homeostasis means that the body keeps a stable environment inside itself. The body needs to have the consistent and proper amount of water, salt, and acid (H+) and bicarbonate (NaHCO3), and potassium (K) in the blood. The kidney keeps these things constant.
If there is too much water, the kidney puts more water in the urine. If there is not enough water, the kidney uses less water in the urine. This is why people make less urine when they are dehydrated.
Kidney diseases
There are many types of kidney diseases. A kidney disease makes the kidneys unable to work perfectly but they do work in part. People can have mild kidney failure and have no symptoms. As long as it does not become worse, people may not even know they have it. Severe kidney failure means very bad failure. The kidneys do not work very much at all in severe kidney disease. People with severe kidney failure always have symptoms and need special care from doctors.
Kidney infections – also called pyelonephritis. This is a bacterial infection in the kidneys. Some of the symptoms are back pain, vomiting, fever, and dark or bloody urine. People with pyelonephritis may need strong antibiotic medicines
Glomerulonephritis – this is a disease of the tissues in the kidneys that make urine. These are called glomeruli. Glomerulonephritis is an autoimmune disease. It can cause mild or severe kidney failure
Congenital kidney disease – this is a congenital disease (born with the disease) in which the kidneys not work properly. This includes people that are born with kidneys in the wrong place, or in the wrong shape. About 1% of people are born with only one kidney
Polycystic kidney disease – an inherited (from the parents) disorder in which cysts grow in the kidneys, and destroy the kidney tissue until the kidneys can no longer perform their functions (work properly)
Renal replacement
If a person's kidneys do not work properly, they are very sick. If they have severe kidney failure, they cannot live unless they have a replacement for their kidneys.
There are two ways to replace the kidneys. These are dialysis and transplantation.
Dialysis is when doctors use a machine and medicines to do the work of the kidneys. There are two kinds of dialysis, being hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
Peritoneal dialysis is when doctors put a plastic tube into the person's abdomen. Every day the person fills the abdomen with fluid. The extra salts, waste, and water that the body does not need goes into the fluid. Then the fluid comes out and takes the wastes with it. This does part of the job that kidneys do.
Hemodialysis is when doctors take blood from a person, clean the blood with a special kind of filter, called a haemodialyser, and put it back in the person. When the blood is cleaned; water, salts and wastes are taken out of it. This must be done 2–4 times every week (usually 3 times.) It takes 2–4 hours to do this each time.
History
It was widely believed in Europe that the conscience was actually located in the kidneys. This idea was taken from the Hebrew Bible. In modern times, medical scientists have shown kidneys do not have this kind of psychological role.
Text adapted from the Simple English Wikipedia article “Kidney” (revision 10826984, 2026-04-20), authors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.